How Does It Feel?
by SamanthaRose
Summary: Final Chapter! Epic Amazing Story Combination Technique goooo! OCxOC, and suddenly there were the Survivors! And Ishmael, too!
1. Pretty Name, Pretty Eyes

Thunder.

Lightning.

The moaning cries of the infected.

The pounding of the rain.

All of these things combined to paint a dismal landscape, and illuminated against the sky with each bright flash of light were two figures on the roof of the hospital.

Fire.

Weeping.

The sound of the helicopter blades shattering windows as the helicopter itself plummeted to the ground, carrying with it the infected pilot and two colleagues that had stood on the roof only moments before.

An uttered cry of disbelief and the very human girl turned her gun to aim at the inhuman man who had just saved her life. His tongue had only just retracted after he had used it to sweep her from the falling helicopter, and from here she could see the deep amber of his eyes returning.

"You're infected." She choked out, hands shaking so badly she could hardly keep her aim. "Why didn't you tell me you're infected?!"

"You never asked." was his simple, rasped reply, and as he took a step closer, she fired a warning shot at him, missing his body but getting her point across. "I'm no different now than I was before you knew."

Her shaking hands lowered the gun ever so slightly, and both of them stood in the rain in silence, both of them thankful that the water washed away the tears on their faces.

"We need to go." He said at last, holding out one hand. "We need to leave here. Find a safe house. Pull ourselves together."

She stared at him for a moment after he finished speaking, and he expected to see the familiar look of hatred and disgust in her eyes, that same look that came to all of them when they realized what he was.

Instead, her face filled with pity as she gazed across at him.

Pity.

She pitied him.

Why?

…

…

…

Three days earlier…

…

…

…

It was under very odd circumstances that the two of them met in the first place. Ruby had been with two other survivors, Tyler and Sonja, a heated battle taking place in a building across town from the hospital, and when she was injured the other two stuffed her in a closet for safe keeping while they fought off the horde.

The closet was stifling, the smell of death permeating it and it was far too dark to see inside.

Ruby had been shocked beyond all belief when a soft, rasping voice reached her, coming from behind her in the close quarters. When she turned, she met a pair of amber eyes as they were illuminated by a lighter flicking to life.

"Hey. This is my closet. Get your own."

"What?" She asked in disbelief, brows knitting. "What the hell? Why are you in here?"

"Because there are zombies out there. You didn't notice?" The man asked, tilting his head to the side. Something soft brushed her shoulder, and it took her a moment to realize it was his hair, long and straight and black.

"Of course I did." Ruby tensed as the hand not holding the lighter took hold of her arm, a grimace crossing her face when he leaned closer to inspect the wound. She could hear his breathing change, almost as if he were sniffing her, and a soft noise escaped his throat.

"Are you immune?" He asked a few seconds later, Ruby's heart beginning to pound a little harder.

"I have been so far. Is it bad?"

"Well, yeah. You were bitten by a zombie, isn't it always bad?" He had a hint of laughter in his voice. "I guess since we're sharing this closet, I should introduce myself."

Ruby stared up at him as the lighter flicked out, surprised to see that his eyes were still visible in the darkness, almost like they were glowing. She wrote it off as spots in her eyes from the lighter, glancing over her shoulder at the door.

The sounds of battle from outside were beginning to quiet down, the gunfire becoming more sporadic. Ruby jumped a little when the man's hot breath washed over the side of her face and neck as he leaned closer, her cheeks blazing.

"The name's Tori." He whispered in his rasping voice.

"Ruby." She replied softly, a soft laugh sending his breath cascading over her again. It smelled faintly of cigarettes.

"Pretty name." Tori whispered again, the door opening suddenly and flooding the little closet with light. Tori immediately turned his face away from it, reaching down to pick up a hat off a nearby rack and placing it on his head.

"What the?" Tyler blinked a few times in surprise. "Where'd he come from?"

"I was here first." Tori replied, looking over at the boy with a slight smile. "Looks like we had the same brilliant idea."

"Yeah, sure." Tyler glanced Tori over, Ruby finding herself surprisingly relieved that the boy didn't ask questions about Tori's odd appearance. And his appearance was very odd indeed. His skin was rather pale, his eyes a rich amber under the light and as he spoke and smiled, she could see sharply pointed teeth in his mouth.

The feeling of his warmth and closeness lingered on her skin, clinging in an uncomfortable way that made her cheeks hot and kept her thoughts distracted as introductions were passed around and they travelled together from the corpse riddled room.

Tori appeared to be armed with an axe, his insistence that it was a better weapon for him than a gun raising eyebrows, Tyler remarking that he would have to prove it to them the next time they got into a scrap. Ruby found herself watching the tall stranger as they walked, noting how he was at once laid back and very alert, how he walked with a swagger but at the same time a purpose.

When they stopped in the next safe room, Tori offered to take first watch, citing that he wasn't very tired and didn't mind keeping an eye on his new 'pack.' Sonja was a little apprehensive about this, but the other two agreed that Tori hadn't given them any reason to doubt him or distrust him, so they hunkered down to get some sleep while Tori hovered near the door.

Tori kept coughing during the night, painful, wet coughs, causing Ruby to have some difficulty staying asleep. When she sat up, Tori looked over his shoulder at her and raised an eyebrow.

"You should rest while you can." He whispered, Ruby shaking her head and slipping out of her sleeping bag.

"I'm not really tired." She murmured in reply, moving to stand with him at the door. Tori coughed again, the rattling breath he drew in after making her bite her lip. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. I just have a bad habit. I'm a smoker." Tori smiled down at her. "I ran out of cigarettes recently, but the smoke gets into leather really good. Hence the smell. I'm sorry."

"None of us smell very good, I'm sure you've noticed. We're hoping to be able to catch long enough of a break that we'll be able to at least bathe when we reach the hospital." Ruby rubbed her arms slightly. It was starting to get cold out there, with the rain falling more steadily every day. She wasn't looking forward to another long trek in this weather, but if they didn't keep moving, eventually something would come along that could get through the red steel doors.

She was so lost in thought, daydreaming of one of the huge Tanks coming in through the door and killing them that she didn't notice Tori moving until a pleasant weight dropped over her shoulders. Blinking, Ruby looked over to see him standing in a t-shirt and black jeans, his heavy leather coat now draped about her.

Tori didn't say anything, or even look at her, his amber eyes scanning the area just outside the door of the safe room. As Ruby turned her face away, cheeks hot, a small smile touched his lips.

…

Tori was surprised how quickly it blossomed. He was surprised how swiftly it spread through him and how thoroughly it took over his thoughts. Up till this point, the survivors he had travelled with had been little better than toys.

Perhaps it was the unusual circumstances under which they met. Perhaps it was her quiet manner, her lovely name or her pretty blue eyes. Perhaps it was simply fate or another step in Darwin's great plan for him on the road to higher evolution.

Whatever it was, in the few days after he met Ruby, he found himself changing. A part of him even began to believe that she would forgive him for what he was if the time ever came to make it known to her.

Part of him knew there was something much different about her.

His antics kept the others in a constant state of frustration, but Ruby brushed off all his attempts to unnerve her with a roll of her eyes and a wave of her hand. She refused to put up with any of his bullshit, and he admired her that much more for it.

Sonja was by far the easiest to provoke, Tyler usually the one doing the shouting when Tori took it one step too far. They threatened to leave him behind and actually did lock him out of the safe room on the second night, once more failing to ask questions when he put up no protest and showed no concern.

Not long after the others were asleep, Ruby woke to keep him company, sitting on one side of the door while he sat on the other. Their backs were separated only by the red steel, and if he concentrated hard enough, he could almost hear her heart beating…

She asked unobtrusive questions, seemed genuinely interested in getting to know him, and the chats that they shared on those long nights were one of the only reasons he didn't leave them all there while they were sleeping to fend for themselves.

He didn't feel the need to infect them, to leave them with unpleasant memories of him. He didn't feel the need to kill them, either, and he wondered if perhaps Ruby was the reason for it. Tori didn't want to upset her… killing her friends would upset her.

_… part of my soul had sickened when my body did…_

She mentioned her hesitation in killing the infected at first, the fact that they were people that might one day be able to be cured, but she fully understood it was an eat or be eaten world, quite literally. Tori listened politely when she spoke, careful not to say too much when it was his turn to do so.

"Hey Tori?" Ruby whispered through the door, Tori making a soft noise in reply. "What are you going to do when you get out of here? Do you have someone to go back home to? Some place?"

"I hadn't really thought about it." Tori rasped, not precisely telling the truth. He had thought on it extensively, he had a plan… he just didn't know if they would let him go through with it or if there would ever be a time he could go through with it. "As for going home to some place or someone… I didn't have anyone before. Well, I had a family, but they were infected from the looks of the house when I went back to it."

"I'm sorry." Ruby said, Tori chuckling again. He heard her voice shift so that it came from higher up, realizing she was now standing at the window in the door. "I don't know what happened to my family. It was all so chaotic. We were at the train station when it started, waiting to pick up some relatives who were coming to stay with us. There was a lot of fire, a lot of screaming, people running around like crazy… I lost them in the thick of it."

Tori looked up at her and didn't say anything for a long moment, then he stood himself, removing his hat and turning it over a few times in his hands.

"I hope they're still out there, alive." He whispered after a time. "I gotta take a walk, clear my head. Tell the others not to wait up when they're awake."

Shoving his hat back on his head, Tori walked into the darkness surrounding the safe room. Behind him, Ruby watched silently, her pretty blue eyes stinging.

Several times, Tori contemplated turning around, wrenching that damn door open and sweeping her off her feet and away into the night with him, but there was a bigger part of him that told him space was just what they both needed right now. He wasn't far enough away to not hear her small voice bleat his name…

And for some reason, it broke his heart to ignore it.

Somewhere along the line here, he had lost himself. Somewhere between the girl he had left to wither alone, infected and locked in a safe room with the body of the boy she had been travelling with and the girl Aster who frightened him more than words could say, Tori had lost himself.

He was no longer laughing, was no longer pushing as hard as he once did. He was no longer finding the little people running and screaming to be hilarious.

Feeling this way for Ruby only made him feel worse for all he had done in the past, all he had laughed about. Distancing himself from her was better for them both.

And if he avoided mirrors and reflective surfaces for now, he wouldn't have to see that the wet streaks on his face had nothing to do with the rain pouring down outside.

…

Ruby's dreams that night when she finally managed to get back to sleep were strange, twisted. First she was Christine and Tori her masked Phantom, the two of them drifting along an underground river that was on fire.

Then she was walking along a deserted corridor as Tori's voice rasped Shakespeare, his words echoing off the bare walls.

Then a poem began to recite itself again and again in her head, the words morbid and having little meaning to her. When she woke, it was in a cold sweat, with Tyler and Sonja looking at her in concern.

"Where's Tori?" Sonja ventured to ask when they had calmed her down a bit. "Did he leave?"

"Why wouldn't he have left? You locked him out!" Ruby protested, dragging her fingers through her slightly wavy brown hair. "I would have left, too."

"You heard what he was saying!" Sonja replied, rather indignant. "I wasn't going to let him stay in here and potentially do all those things he was threatening to to me."

"I'm pretty sure he was kidding." Tyler murmured, looking towards the door. " Damn. I was hoping he would stick around despite us making him sit outside. I hope he realizes we would have let him in if there was a swarm."

"He probably knew that. He just needed air."

Ruby could feel her cheeks growing hot again, and she stood to pick up her guns without saying another word. Behind her back, Tyler and Sonja exchanged glances.

They headed back out into the rain shortly after the conversation, Ruby letting out a miserable sound and closing her eyes.

"I'll never be dry again." Tyler groaned behind her. "I'm going to have nightmares about wet socks for the rest of my freaking life."

"If you don't shut up and focus, the rest of your life might come a lot quicker than you'd like for it to." Sonja muttered, leading the way down a rather cramped alley. "C'mon."

It wasn't too much further to reach Mercy Hospital, but Ruby found herself thanking the powers that be they made it one piece. After three days of travelling with a fourth member to their little party, fighting with only three was much harder.

Tyler didn't make matters better by suggesting they only stop briefly in the safe room. They were so close to the roof now, so close to rescue… Ruby was exhausted and hoping to prolong their travel in case Tori was still around and waiting to catch up to them.

The thought that he might already be at the roof himself changed her mind, and she agreed to push on after a short rest in the battered looking safe room on the unfinished level of the hospital. Supplies replenished and breath caught, legs rested and nerves still sharp, Ruby was the first to exit the safe room.

There was an uneasy feeling in her stomach as they ascended the first ladder on their way to the roof. The uneasy feeling wasn't explained by the few infected they ran into, nor was it explained by the narrow miss they had with the Tank on the level above them.

It wasn't explained by the disturbing lack of bodies or living infected on the roof, or the smears of blood on the ground, a body torn in half in the room with the radio, the wrecked landing pad or the roar of the infected once the helicopter pilot they contacted said he was on his way.

It might have been the sheer lack of Tori. Or perhaps the fact that the pilot admitted he had an 'incident' and might run a little late in their rescue. It could have been the ill timed boom from one of the Boomers that rushed them along with the horde, obscuring their vision of the Hunter that chose to pounce on Tyler.

When the helicopter did arrive, their mad dash to the helipad helped by a well aimed pipebomb, Ruby was the first to reach it. She helped Sonja into the chopper, both of them assisting Tyler seeing as he was so terribly injured.

Just as she was about to climb in, however, the pilot began to turn.

There was no more hope of rescue here, no more hope that this chopper that had braved the rain and the storm would be able to get them out of here alive. Sonja was in the cockpit now, trying to pull the pilot loose as the helicopter listed dangerously to the left.

Ruby had been about to climb into it as well, desperate to escape the hordes that were beginning to swarm the helipad, and the scream that escaped her throat when something wrapped around her arm and jerked it back, dragging her off her feet and away from the helicopter was drowned in the scream that escaped the machine as it began to fall.

The horde paid no more attention to the screaming girl, instead tearing towards and OFF OF the side of the building in their desperation to reach the machine making so much noise.

Strong hands grasped Ruby's arms, and she didn't dare open her eyes even after she was placed gently on her feet again somewhere across the roof, away from the lingering horde. The fireball that shot up into the sky was hot, the light strong enough for her to see through her eyelids.

Those pretty blue eyes opened, and slowly she turned to face the person who had rescued her from the falling helicopter and her inevitable death…

…

…

…

Present Day

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…

…

"I don't want your pity." Tori's hiss made Ruby's eyes widen again, her gun lowering the rest of the way and her cheeks flushing in the dim light. "I don't need it!"

"I don't-"

"Things that should have remained sleeping are probably now awake and we need to get to safety." Tori stifled a cough behind one hand, the one he wasn't holding out to her, his amber eyes still fixed on her.

Ruby stared back at him, fixed to the spot, her heart hammering in her chest. It made sense that he was infected, his odd appearance and poor health and all, and he had saved her life… Going with him seemed a little too much like she was personally enabling the rest of the infected, allowing them to exist.

Yes, they were sick people. Yes, there might someday be a cure, but until they found one, these infected people would continue attempting to kill them. Kill or be killed… survival of the fittest.

Even as these thoughts crossed her mind, Ruby began to understand now why Tori seemed to revere Darwin like a god. This was indeed Darwin's ultimate test.

Her gun clattered to the ground as she dropped it, her feet carrying her across the space that separated her from Tori without any further hesitation and she threw herself into his arms. The gasp that escaped him almost made her pull back, afraid that she had hurt him, but then his strong arms wrapped around her and pulled her soft body close.

Tori's fingers swept the wet hair beside her ear away, leaning closer as he pulled her a little more tightly to him. "I need you to trust me."

"I want to." Ruby breathed back.

"Then do it. And keep in mind that being infected has it's advantages." As he whispered the last word, he began running towards the side of the building, lifting her easily in his arms so she had no choice but to go with him. Eyes widening once more, Ruby let out a scream and hid her face in his shoulder, clinging to him for dear life, but she didn't plummet as she had expected to. Instead, she found herself swinging through the air, forward and down, Tori landing hard on the next nearest, next lowest building top beside the hospital.

As soon as his feet were back on solid ground, he set her down, offering her a wicked smile before rushing to kill the few infected that lingered here. Ruby found herself staring at him, this time without shame. She found herself admiring him, forcing herself not to care about what he was…

It was who he was that she loved in the first place.

...

...

...

Author's Note!!

Yaaaaaaaay! This is a request from Chibi, the author of The Misadventures of a Curious Hunter and creator of the lovable Ark among others! ^.^ I hope you enjoy! And I will be posting up a playlist to to join the other that I created sometime soon, once there are more tracks on it.


	2. Ghosts

Where one storm passed, it became quite obvious to the pair as the days progressed that more clouds were on their way. Now forced to make the trip out of the city on foot, faring only marginally better than two humans would have on the account that Tori was infected, they faced long days of rain and discomfort broken up only by short trips to relatively dry safe rooms that were scattered all over the city.

It didn't take long for Ruby to become so exhausted their stays in the safe rooms were getting longer and longer, and while Tori felt terrible for pushing her, he knew better than most that staying in one place too long wasn't good for them.

The storm found them again the day he made the choice to take an entire day to rest, a storm that began with the sound of weeping outside the safe room door when his eyes opened that morning. Edging towards the door in the dim light of the dawn, Tori eased himself against the wall beside it and peeked out, his amber eyes searching the immediate area.

The Witch was close, and she was already on her feet, wavering as she wandered the narrow alley outside the safe room. Her head was hanging so that her white hair disguised her features, her clothing tattered and stained heavily with blood. The arms that hung at her sides ended in hands laden with those tell tale knife like claws.

Tori breathed out a barely audible curse, pushing away from the door and hurrying back to the seat he had slept in the night before. His amber eyes shifted to Ruby, the sudden sadness that filled him at the thought of making her push hard again today a frustration to him. She was making him soft…

Tori reminded himself that he needed to continue on the way he always had, told himself that he needed to continue being a hard ass so that both of them could make it out of this alive.

The Witch outside the door, he had recognized her immediately, and it was a ghost that he wasn't yet ready to deal with. This meant they had to go back the way they came, out the other door and around the long way to reach the next safe spot, and he was sure Ruby wasn't going to be thrilled with the prospect.

He just hoped he could keep her from asking too many obnoxious questions.

Crouching down next to the girl, Tori put his hand on her arm to rouse her, the disgruntled noise she made sending a sharp stab of emotion through him that made his mouth twist. Upon hearing the sound of the Witch outside, however, Ruby slowly sat up, blinking her eyes in the dim morning light and protesting loudly when Tori stood, dragging her to her feet.

Tori pressed his hand over her mouth and leaned close to hiss near her ear.

"Be quiet. Remember what I said about things that should remain sleeping."

Ruby took in a slow breath, letting it out as she nodded, now completely wide awake. She looked awful, but there was little that could be done about it right now.

"Get your things." Tori whispered, pulling his hand away from her mouth and moving to unblock the back door.

"Couldn't you just go out there and-" Ruby began, Tori's rough, blunt response making her blink in surprise, cheeks coloring.

"No." He shoved a heavy table aside and glanced over his shoulder at her, eyes still amber. "We're going to take the long way."

"Why?"

"There is an immediate possibility of several things happening, Ruby." His tone of voice let her know he was heading steadily in the direction of one of his rants, so she folded her arms beneath her breasts and fixed him with a stony stare. She had very little time to deal with this childishness, especially first thing in the morning. "I'm going to leave you here to suffer the crying of that girl sitting outside. Or I'm going to pick you up, throw you over my shoulder and run away with you whether you like it or not."

After a moment of silence, the glare she offered him turning no less intense, Ruby turned her back and began to gather her belongings, listening to the Witch as Tori continued to shift the objects blocking the door. Her wavy brown hair was a mess after all the rain, but she managed to wrestle it into a ponytail to keep it out of her face, slinging her sweater over her arm after shouldering her backpack and standing to look expectantly at the infected man now guarding the unsecured door.

"I don't appreciate you manhandling me." Ruby muttered, Tori looking at her and raising an eyebrow.

"You've never complained before."

"That's because you were manhandling me to save my life."

"This was no different. That Witch is very capable of making this door explode off its hinges, you know?" He rasped, wrenching the door open and holding his hand out to her. When Ruby's hand closed over his, he gripped just a little bit too firmly, pulling the door closed again behind them as they moved back out onto the street. The smell was worse during the day… especially the days when the sun managed to break through the clouds.

Tori's skin was warmer than a human's skin, probably because of the infection, and today his hands were trembling, setting a little growling worry to life in the pit of Ruby's stomach. She didn't bring it up, and from what she had learned of Tori in the week that she had known him, she doubted very strongly that he would discuss with her the reason for him being so freaked out.

Tori wasn't a very emotionally or verbally personal person. He did, however, have very little concept of "personal bubble" and had no qualms with getting into hers. For the most part, Ruby didn't complain or argue about this, but when he got uncomfortably aggressive, she put her foot down. She had very little tolerance for his bullshit, and he knew it.

There was a good chance that if the topic was breached at all, it would be in a thoroughly inappropriate manner. That was the only way Tori seemed to know how to deal with things. For some reason, Ruby had stopped getting offended.

"I'll make this all worth your while." Tori muttered as they turned the corner to exit the alley they had come down the day before to reach the safe room.

"How do you plan on doing that?" Ruby replied dryly, Tori's eyes gleaming in a peculiar fashion when he looked over his shoulder at her, tugging on her hand to make her step a little closer.

"By making sure you sleep well tonight." He continued with a chuckle of amusement. Ruby came to a sudden stop, dragging him to a halt along with her, and he blinked at her over his shoulder.

Her expression was murderous.

"Itoria." She said with a warning note in her voice, the infected man letting his eyes flutter closed and letting a rumble from deep in his chest escape his throat.

"I love it when you use my full name." He growled, Ruby jerking her hand away.

"Damn it, Tori, why do you have to be like that all the time?! I understand something is bothering you, but do you have to be such an insufferable asshole?!" She cried, her pretty blue eyes shining a little, an indication that she was going to start crying if he continued pressing. She was tired, probably hungry, and sick of everything that was happening around her… he really didn't need to be pushing her so hard.

Tori, however, needed an outlet. He was scared and anxious and felt that familiar rage that came with this damn infection welling up in him. He had no infected to direct it on, so tormenting those in his company was the only way to regulate.

So he caught her hand and pulled her close to him again, but she pushed against his chest rather firmly, shaking her head.

"Don't try to sweet talk your way out of it this time, I'm not in the mood." Ruby's voice was choked, another sharp stab of emotion running through him that made him feel hot and uncomfortable. "Maybe I should have let you leave me back there. You broke your promise to me after all."

"Some things can't be predicted, Ruby." Tori rasped in reply, frowning. "And I feel this is an appropriate time to point out to you the fact that you still owe me your life. Trust me, if I could have let you sleep all fucking day, I would have-" He broke off suddenly when a fit of coughing gripped him, leaving him completely breathless while Ruby struggled to hold his weight as he sagged against her.

It took him longer to recover this time, but Ruby felt that was partially her fault for taking his bait and fighting with him. The color of Tori's eyes seemed cloudy when he looked down at her, but the argument didn't continue once he finally caught his breath. His hand found hers again, only this time, she didn't jerk it away.

There were times she might have questioned whether or not he was coughing like that just to get out of an argument or to get her to stop being angry at him. This wasn't one of those times.

In truth, Tori looked as awful as she did.

"I think you need to stop assuming I want to sleep with you." She said after they travelled about half an hour in silence, Tori glancing back at her and snickering.

"Don't you?" He gasped, Ruby frowning at the back of his head.

"Not particularly. While I enjoy your company from time to time, you're more of a necessity for survival than an object of my affections." She replied, Tori letting out a rather indignant grunt and glancing back at her again.

"It's because of the infection, isn't it?" He muttered. "Or wait… are you a virgin?"

"That's not up for discussion. Stop being a jerk now before you make me angry again."

"Have you ever been kissed before?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, Tori, I have been kissed before. Multiple times." The conversation stopped there, though she could practically see the gears in his head turning, a little smirk on his face as he lost himself in thought. Ruby's cheeks felt hot, but she thought that was understandable.

Sure, she had been kissed by guys before. Had she ever been kissed by one as good looking as Tori was? No. And then there was the matter of Tori's tongue… she was damn sure he was capable of doing very interesting-

Ruby gave her head a shake, cheeks now blazing and heart hammering in her chest. She reminded herself that giving into Tori's prodding and suggestions would mean the end of the game. This was one game she wasn't ready to end, not just yet.

…

The rest of the long trip to the next safe room was uneventful, a long walk that was punctuated by simple conversation, the constant feeling of Ruby's hand in his own a comfort for Tori. It made sure he knew he wasn't alone, and her level headedness kept him from getting lost in the rage when they fought a horde he unknowingly attracted after jumping on the hood of a car that happened to be armed with an alarm.

When they both collapsed inside the safe room, which was much bigger than their last one, with actual room to move and lay down, Tori removed his hat and dragged his fingers through his long black hair, glancing over at Ruby to make sure she was alright. She was sitting with her back against a wall, head leaning back and eyes closed, her breathing a little more labored than he would have liked.

They had run the last few feet to the safe room, and his chest was burning. He couldn't imagine how the exhausted girl must have felt.

"We rest here. Witch or no." He murmured to her, her pretty blue eyes opening to regard him suspiciously. "I promise, and this time I won't break it to tuck my tail between my legs and run."

"I sense a story in the future." Ruby's voice was tired, but the little smile on her face made his heart pound a little faster.

"Only if you wish it, Ruby." Tori replied, the girl closing her eyes again and sighing.

"Maybe after I get some rest."

"You should eat first." He shifted from where he was sitting, opening his pack and rummaging around for something. Ruby stifled a yawn behind her hand, knowing he was probably right about eating. No use going to sleep on an empty stomach. "Hrm. We'll need to go and find some more food for you tomorrow, Ruby. There's not much in here."

He offered her a power bar, snatching her hand in his when she reached for it and pressing a soft kiss to the back of it. Their eyes met, her cheeks blazed, but whatever it was that she grumbled as she pulled her hand firmly back with the power bar in it was lost in the blood rushing in Tori's ears as he grinned at her.

At least this time, she didn't get angry.

Ruby ate her food then lay on her side on the floor, soon falling asleep and leaving Tori to take first watch. He didn't mind staying up all night if it meant she could get some real rest, and besides…

He had a feeling that Witch would be back. Telling Ruby the story of why he knew her in the morning would be interesting, to say the least.

If Tori was completely honest with Ruby, perhaps she wouldn't be as angry as he figured she would be. All the chocolate and sweet talk in the world wouldn't be able to soothe her feelings if she got angry at him about this.

He hoped her blind understanding would hold out. Hell, he would even take more of her foolish pity if it meant she would forgive him for what he did to that girl, the one who became the Witch.

"… _something to remember me by…" _

Tori closed his amber eyes and grimaced deeply, his short, hard claws digging into the metal floor and leaving marks. The sound wasn't quite enough to wake Ruby, but she stirred ever so slightly and that was cause enough to stop doing it. Instead, Tori sat back against the wall with his eyes closed and began to plan the speech he was going to give her in the morning.

…

Again, Ruby found herself having strange dreams, the cold sweat on her skin and the flush of her cheeks making her hope she hadn't been talking in her sleep when she finally woke up again. It wouldn't have mattered anyway, Tori was fast asleep against the other wall, his hair down and spread in a raven colored halo around his head, his breathing slightly labored due to the position he had fallen in.

She shifted to rouse him or push him into a more comfortable position, a shuffling noise at the door drawing her attention. Hand halfway to Tori's arm, Ruby brought her eyes to fall upon the ghostly face of the Witch peering in through the bars of the door.

Glowing red eyes met pretty blue ones briefly before the Witch looked to where Ruby's hand was reaching, a terrible growl escaping her throat.

Ruby's mouth had gone dry, and there were several heartbeats that passed as if in slow motion as she opened her mouth and let out a scream.

The scream was echoed by the Witch, who pulled one hand back and punched the door. Metal buckled under the blow, but the door held. By this time, Tori was on his feet and looking about in a panic, eyes wide. Another blow hit the door, and he had Ruby by the arm, dragging her behind him for protection.

"What did you do?!" He gasped, coughing violently. She shook her head, flinching when the Witch managed to drive her fist through the door, razor sharp claws raking at the air as she continued to screech like a wounded cat.

"I didn't DO anything! It's a Witch, do I even need to do anything?!" Ruby cried in protest, fumbling for her gun.

"I'm going to need to ask you to trust me, Ruby." Tori said hoarsly, Ruby being given no time to protest or agree before Tori reached out and opened the safe room door.

Ruby ducked down behind him and covered her head with her arms, anticipating a swift death for them both…

But the finishing blow never came. Tori fell heavily on the floor beside her, but instead of pouncing on him and shredding him with her claws like Ruby had seen many a Witch try to do, this Witch stood over him and stared down at him with her glowing red eyes, the feral growls that escaped her eventually fading to soft whimpers, then mournful keening cries. The Witch slowly sank to the floor on her knees in front of Tori, reaching one hand out to touch his arm, his leg, his shoulder, the cries continuing.

Ruby remained very still, though she stared at Tori in confusion and shock, the infected man letting out a small, sheepish laugh.

"Tori, what's going on?" Ruby whispered, Tori's shoulders rising and falling in a slight shrug. The Witch had now crawled forward and was leaning over him with her hands on his thighs, her face a map of anguish. "What is she doing?"

"I… er…" Tori began, shifting so he was propped up on his elbows. "Her name is Ashley."

"You know her?" Ruby thought her eyes would pop out of her head if she widened them anymore. She took another look at the Witch, a sudden stab of jealousy coursing through her.

"… Funny story." Tori's voice was very soft, and Ruby had a feeling the story wasn't going to be funny at all. "I should tell you."

"Please do. I'm terribly confused as to why we're not dead."

"I'm getting to it. Just… give me a minute to get her off of me, this is a very uncomfortable position and isn't helping my state of mind." Tori mumbled, his cheeks coloring ever so slightly. The Witch was now straddling his waist, staring at him with those intense red eyes, utterly silent and still. "Oh fuck me sideways, you are far creepier than I remember you being."

Ruby tried to get up, but as she rose, the Witch did too, making her crouch back down on the ground again to avoid those claws. She stared at Tori imploringly, willing him to do something to rectify this situation. Tori was simply staring at the Witch, face showing he was clearly at a loss as to what to do without getting them both killed.

"Do Witches sleep?" Ruby whispered, Tori's shoulders rising and falling in a shrug once again. He began to cough nervously, Ashley the Witch letting out a concerned gasp and putting one hand on the center of his chest. The positioning of her hand made those claws come dangerously close to Tori's throat, but Ruby didn't see any sign in Ashley's face that she understood this danger. "Tori… I think you better start explaining what's going on."

"I gave her something to remember me by." Tori admitted, mouth twisting when Ruby groaned. "I guess she did."

"Did what?"

"Remembered me." Tori looked around slightly, careful not to move in a way that would put his neck in anymore danger than it was already in. "I need you to get my axe."

"How?" Ruby bristled with irritation. "She gets pissed if I try to move."

"I'll distract her."

"And when I get the axe, then what? Hit her with it?"

"Just enough to hopefully knock her out." Tori muttered, shifting uncomfortably beneath Ashley. "I need her to get off of me quickly before I do something I will regret."

Reaching up with one hand, Tori put it over Ashley's eyes and shifted into a sitting position, the Witch uttering a warning growl. Tori gestured to Ruby, who leapt to her feet and hurried to where Tori's axe was leaning against the wall by the door. The growls began to get more high pitched and frantic, Ashley raising her clawed hands slowly.

"Do it now, Ruby." Tori said in a soft voice. Ruby looked down at the axe, then at the Witch, swallowing a few times as she lifted it. She didn't know how hard to hit Ashley to keep from killing her but still knock her out… Part of her questioned the necessity of keeping the girl alive at all. There was no doubt in Ruby's mind this girl would kill her in her sleep in a heartbeat. "Ruby…"

Tori's voice was a little more frantic now, with good reason. Ashley had decided something fishy was going on and was beginning to slowly get to her feet.

Ruby swung the flat side of the axe into Ashley's head with a cry, the dull thunk followed by an enraged scream proving she hadn't quite swung it hard enough to do the job she intended.

"Uh oh." Tori gasped, his tongue shooting out to wrap tightly around Ashley's body as the Witch leapt to her feet and spun to face Ruby. Ruby was already backing towards the door with the bloodied axe still in hand, her eyes wide, but when Ashley fell to the ground wrapped up tightly with no possible way to escape, she dropped the axe and hurried over to help Tori to his feet.

He had a look of intense concentration on his face as he struggled to stand, leaning against Ruby for a moment once he was on his feet. Ruby stared up at him, then looked down at the form of the gasping, weakly struggling Witch on the floor, realizing that because the plan with the axe failed, he was now attempting to suffocate her into submission.

Every breath Ashley breathed out, Tori constricted her a little tighter, until at last she fell still and silent. Neither of them moved for long moments after Tori retracted his tongue, both of them staring down at the bleeding, silent form of the Witch. The tension in the room became thick and terrible, Tori grimacing as he finally turned away from Ashley to face Ruby.

"I suppose… I owe you an explanation?"


	3. Understandable Tension

Author's Note!!

For those of you that are a little confused and asking questions on the topic of Ashley, I will direct you to Tori's Story! It can be found with the rest of the stories in my profile and will explain just who Ashley is! ^.^ And it's a good read, I have to admit I'm rather in love with the piece and consider it one of my best works! I urge you to check it out!

On with the story!

…

…

…

"First things first." Tori looked at Ruby rather seriously, and for the first time since the rooftop of Mercy Hospital, she could tell the words to follow would be truth, honest to goodness truth without any of his usual assholeishness. "You need to understand that I am not a nice person. I'm sure you've noticed this enough on your own already, but I need to emphasize this."

"Tori." Ruby breathed, sighing shortly when he put a finger to her lips.

"I'm not a good person. Not a nice person. Until I met you, I could barely be considered anything more than a criminal, a bully and an indecent person. I did things that you will not like to hear that I did, and I will probably end up doing such things again in the future. Keep that in mind, please." Tori continued, Ruby's stomach churning uncomfortably. When he took his finger from her lips, he leaned down closer, the small shake of her head stopping him from whatever it was he had been attempting to do.

"Don't even try it, Tori. Tell me your story so I can get back to being pissed off at you."

"Do you want the long version, or the short version?"

"Which version will make me angrier?"

"The long one that offers much insight into my twisted life."

"Then give me the short version so I can do my best not to hate you."

"Try very hard, Ruby. Very hard." Tori's expression darkened and he put his hands on her shoulders, forcing her to sit down on the floor in front of him as he cleared his throat. "I met Ashley along with her boyfriend Max some time ago. We travelled together through the city, but when we reached the hospital, I finally showed them my true face. I told them my story, and Max… Max made the mistake of calling me a monster, Ruby."

Ruby frowned up at him slightly as he spoke, his hands tightening their grip on her shoulders.

"I killed him."

For some reason, the little jerk she gave beneath his hands hurt a lot more than it should have. He had expected this reaction from her, hadn't he? Now there was nowhere to go but forward, he couldn't take it back.

"I killed him. I tore his throat out and left him on the floor of the safe room. I killed him for daring to stand in my-" Tori cut off when he began coughing again, Ruby letting out a soft gasp of anguish. She didn't move to hold him as she usually did during these fits, simply sitting and staring at him with wide eyes.

Killing infected was one thing. Killing people was different.

"I killed him for daring to get in my way." Tori finally choked. "I want peace, Ruby. I want a place of my own. This damn infection has robbed me of everything, but I am NOT a monster."

"I didn't think you were." Ruby whispered, Tori's eyes raising to meet hers. His expression was terrible, too many things to read written on his face, and he let out a soft groan before leaning to rest his head on her shoulder.

"Didn't. You didn't think. And now you do?"

"I…" Ruby took in a shaky breath. "You killed him? You just… God Tori, why?"

"I told you. I want peace. And every person who looks at me with fear and disgust in their faces, hatred even, every person who stands in my way and tells me I can't have peace because I'm sick doesn't deserve to fucking live, Ruby." His amber eyes were darkening, but she didn't reach out to touch his cheek to stop him, as she had been doing in these past days.

Her heart was hammering in terror, and as he continued, her horror only grew.

"After I killed him, I cornered Ashley. Told her… I wanted to give her something to remember me by. We can smell it in you, y'know? The infected can smell the immunes, we know when someone can't become infected and we fight harder to destroy that person. Every immune makes our future a little bleaker." Tori let out a pained hiss and shook his head.

He turned his head to look at the prone form of Ashley on the floor, lifting his hands from her shoulders to drag his claws through his hair.

"Ashley wasn't immune. I cornered her and certainly gave her something to remember me by despite her screaming and her pleading for me to stop. I kissed her, Ruby."

"Knowing she could become infected?" Ruby gasped, Tori shaking his head firmly again without looking at her.

"Knowing she WOULD become infected. I didn't care anymore, Ruby. At that moment, humanity had forsaken me, so the least I could do was invite that pretty, petite little girl to join our ranks. I gave her a kiss she would never forget and left her there, in that safe room alone."

"… and you say you're not a monster?" Ruby whispered, tears now forming in her eyes and her throat becoming thick.

"I'm not." Tori said firmly, looking up at her with a hurt expression. "I am NOT a monster."

"That was a pretty monstrous thing you did!" Ruby wasn't keeping her voice down anymore, her emotions rising to the breaking point as tears began to stream down her cheeks. "And you don't even have the guts to put her out of her misery?! Look at her! LOOK AT HER! Do you think she wanted this, do you think she wanted to be like this?!"

"YOU KNOW NOTHING OF THIS DISEASE!!" Tori roared, his eyes deepening to black as he stared down at Ruby, who shrunk away from him with a small yelp. He slammed one clawed hand into the wall next to her, and she felt fairly faint from fear, sinking down with her back against the wall. "You know nothing of the torment we feel, the conflict… you know nothing of the rage or the animal urges we feel, the pain that tears through us every second of every day!"

He began to cough again, tearing his claws from the wall and pushing away from her, managing to stagger to his feet and moving across the safe room from her, the coughing dissolving into growls and sobs as he leaned heavily against the opposite wall.

Ruby remained very still, staring straight ahead, in complete shock from what she had said and what he had done. She didn't try to speak, couldn't bring herself to look at him…

"Or maybe you do. Maybe you suspect." Tori gasped with difficulty, spitting as string of curses that were broken up by more coughing. "After all… you wouldn't look at me with those eyes, those eyes full of pity if you didn't…"

"Don't speak, Tori, you'll sicken yourself." Ruby forced herself to her feet as well, but when she tried to approach him, he swung one hand towards her and caused her to freeze to the spot.

"Stay back." He gasped. "I'm not done yet… I'm not done." He waited for a moment to catch his breath, leaning his head against the wall, then he turned his black eyes to her again.

Ruby remained fixed to the spot, not moving or flinching even as Tori stormed towards her. He stopped within inches of touching her, his dark hair falling in a dark halo around his face as he leaned down towards her.

"I can't… kill her. I put her in this misery, but I can't take her out of it. I don't know if I want to kill anymore. And the reason for that is you."

"Me?" Ruby whispered, shaking her head. Tori caught her chin in his hand firmly, making her grimace.

"Yes. You." He spat the two words, snarling furiously. After gasping for breath a few times, he closed his eyes, leaning his forehead against hers. "You, Ruby, have changed me."

He said nothing more, turning his back to her and pacing away once again.

"Tori?" She finally whispered after too long in silence. He jerked a little, as if she had surprised him, then glanced over his shoulder.

"Just need a moment." He rasped. "… trying to focus."

Ruby remained silent, watching Tori carefully, glancing over her shoulder when she heard the Witch stirring behind her.

"Tori." She said more frantically. "She's-"

"Shut UP! If I don't get control of this, I'm going to… I might just… FUCK." Tori spun around and hurried past Ruby, towards the Witch. Ruby reached out and caught his sleeve, preparing herself for the blow she was sure was coming.

Instead, Tori swung her into the wall behind her, letting out a hiss. "Don't… touch me. Not yet. I don't want to hurt you. And stay here, stare straight ahead, do NOT watch what I'm about to do."

"What happened to change? What happened to not wanting to kill?" Ruby gasped, Tori snarling in her face again before releasing her.

She didn't dare watch, her heart hammering so hard in her chest now she felt as if she were going to be sick, bringing her shaking hands up to cover her face. She heard Ashley's feet peddling on the floor as Tori dragged her outside, the grating of the safe room door opening drowning out her sob.

A scuffle… a squeal…

Silence.

Ruby sank down the wall until she was sitting on the ground, raising her hands to her cover her face slowly, waiting for the sound of his footsteps to return to her.

Those footsteps never came.

Ruby didn't know how long it was before she finally lowered her hands again, forcing herself to her feet and looking towards the door.

Tori wouldn't have left her here all alone. He wouldn't have.

He couldn't have…

Her feet carried her on unsteady legs to the door, her breath coming in short gasps as she peered out into the dim afternoon light, the clouds crowding out the sunlight that had bathed the morning. She could smell blood, she could smell death, the smells far too familiar to her now for her to feel particularly worried about it.

It was what her eyes saw that truly affected her, the sight of Ashley's body laying limply on the ground, blood pooling around her. Tori's axe laying on the ground beside her, head bloodied.

And him, Tori himself, standing over her as still as a statue, utterly silent, his black eyes sucking in what little light was around him. He didn't look over when Ruby approached, hardly even seemed to breathe.

Ruby reached out to touch his arm, fingers pulling away from him at the last second, terrified that if she touched him, he would turn those sharp claws of his on her, or choke her to death with that deadly tongue.

He let out a deep groan, gasping in a breath after it escaped him, making her leap about a foot in the air, a squeak escaping her throat. He turned his head to look at her then, no expression crossing it.

It was as if Tori didn't recognize her.

Ruby's heart almost stopped. She was losing him.

"You did what you had to." She said suddenly, his head tilting to the side. "Tori, I don't think you're a monster."

He shuffled to face her, stepping slowly towards her as a soft growl issued forth from him.

"Come back to me." Ruby pleaded, her voice cracking. "Tori, don't do this. Please come back to me."

Tori opened his mouth slowly, letting out a cry and taking another step forward.

"Itoria!"

The sound of his full name stopped him, a small shudder moving through him. He tilted his head to the side once again, Ruby moving forward to take his arms in her hands. He recoiled, but she persisted.

"Come back to me, Itoria Levon Henry. Don't you dare run away from me." Ruby slid her hands up his arms and to his face, pulling him down towards her as she leaned up on her toes. Tori tensed, once again attempting to pull away, but when her lips met his, a soft gasp escaped his throat.

They were both still for a moment, Ruby holding her breath, terrified that this wasn`t going to work and that he was going to kill her anyway. Tori let out another dull groan and reached down, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her closer to him. Ruby`s eyes widened in surprise when he returned the kiss eagerly, opening her eyes ever so slightly.

Tori had his own eyes open, the deep amber color of them sending waves of relief through her despite the tortured look he was giving her. Eyes fluttering closed again, Tori moved one hand to the back of her head, his tongue tracing her lips before pushing past them as she parted them in invitation.

It was everything Ruby had imagined it to be and more, and she understood very clearly why Tori constantly referred to his kisses as "the kind you never forget, the kind that can never be bested."

At that moment, she understood very clearly what he had meant when he said being infected had its advantages.

Tori was careful at first, but soon threw caution to the wind and gripped her tightly, kissing her as hard and as deep as he dared to without hurting her. The muffled groan that issued forth from her, her clinging hands, the taste and feel of her, all of it combined cast a powerful spell that ate past the rage burning in him and brought him completely back to his senses.

He just hoped he would be able to stop in time before pushing this too far. He wanted this, had wanted this since he first lay eyes on Ruby, but he didn't want it to happen this way. Tori imagined it happening when both of them were safe, and happy.

He broke the kiss slowly, pulled away even while she was resisting him doing so, both of them short of breath and in no hurry to move from where they were standing, pressed together, clinging to one another.

"Why stop?" Ruby gasped, putting a hand on his cheek. "Why now?"

"It can't happen like this, Ruby." Tori replied, closing his eyes. "But thank you… I'm so sorry."

"I should be the one apologizing. Look what I did, Tori, look what I drove you to! It's just awful…" Ruby breathed, Tori silencing her with another very gentle kiss.

"It doesn't matter anymore. C'mon, it's not safe here. We need to go back inside."

…

The night was deep by the time Ruby found the courage to talk to him about what had happened, turning her eyes to him as they sat after eating some semblance of dinner.

Tori had leaned back, putting his hat over his eyes as though he intended to sleep, but he looked up when she said his name.

"Was it… hard?" Tori blinked over at Ruby, raising an eyebrow. "What you did. Was it hard to do it?"

"Not so much. Axe weighs next to nothing, and they're more fragile than they look." Tori growled in reply, Ruby's expression changing a little.

"Did you feel anything? Any remorse, anything at all?" She whispered. Tori took his time in answering, swallowing a few times and letting out a sigh.

"I felt rage, Ruby. That's it. It's a fucking miracle I only hit her once. I denied myself the outlet I needed to get that rage to go away, and that's why I was in the state I was in when you found me." He turned to look at her, taking his hat off. "You provided me… with an outlet."

Her cheeks flushed, and she cleared her throat.

"I thought as quickly as I could. Do you remember what I said, did you hear me?" She asked, tilting her head to the side. "Could you hear me?"

"No." Tori shifted, getting up from where he was sitting to move to sit beside her. He reached out and stroked her cheek, turning her face to his. "Tell me again. I never get tired of listening to the sound of your voice."

The pity in Ruby's eyes made a hot stab of frustration shoot through his gut, but he shrugged it off and smiled.

"I told you that I didn't think you were a monster." Ruby whispered, and Tori's eyes widened. His claws dug a little harder than he intended them to, and she winced slightly.

"… Oh…" Tori gasped, his amber eyes locking with her blue ones.

"And I told you to come back to me. Because you had almost lost yourself in that blood lust and you were… you tried to… I'm just glad I reacted the way I did." She finally said, biting her lip.

"So am I." Tori whispered to her, drawing back at last. "I'm sorry, Ruby."

"Why do you keep apologizing to me? You've done-"

"Don't you dare." Tori barked, Ruby blinking at him in shock. "Don't you dare say I have done nothing worth apologizing for. My entire existence has been riddled with things I should be apologizing for. There are dozens of people I should apologize to."

… _had shared a rather pleasant… experience before the night was through… _

"I'm tired." He whispered after a long silence, Ruby almost regretting it when he moved away from her to sit where he had been before. "You should get some rest. We hit the road again tomorrow."

"Alright." Ruby wanted to ask him to sleep beside her, hold her and keep her warm, but he put his hat back over his eyes and leaned back with tension written in every muscle, every feature… She knew it wasn't the right time.

Something told her his exhaustion stemmed from him being the one to stop what had almost happened between them earlier that day. Something told her it had taken more will than he thought he possessed to say it couldn't happen.

It seemed to both of them that the storm had once again passed them over, but the darkening sky proved that they weren't clear from their bought of bad weather just yet. And when they fell asleep together that night, Tori wrapping his arms protectively around her, Ruby couldn't help but wonder how well they would be able to weather what was to come.


	4. Action Hero

Ruby's eyes flickered open in the bright sunshine of midmorning, the sound of Tori's snoring drawing her attention almost immediately. At some point in time, during the night, he had managed to make his way over to her and was curled up next to her on the floor, eyes closed in his rather serene looking face.

Her hand was resting against his chest, his arm was draped over her hips, the closeness making her heart pound.

"Did you forgive yourself, then?" Ruby whispered, reaching the hand on his chest up to brush her fingers over his chin, his cheek, her touch making him shift ever so slightly but not wake. "Do you believe, like I do, that you're not a monster, Tori? Or are you the monster under your own bed?"

Tori breathed out a sigh as his only sleeping reply, and Ruby smiled, sitting up carefully to work the kinks out of her shoulders and back. Sleeping on the floor was never comfortable, but having any sort of a safe place to sleep was better than attempting to scrape together a few hours outside with the zombies.

The thought came accompanied by a strange, gutteral shriek from outside, a single infected throwing himself against the door and attempting to beat his way through it to get to them. She jumped out of her skin, just about, the sudden sound and movement also waking Tori from his slumber with a grunt and a growl.

Picking up her pistol, Ruby made quick work of the infected outside the door, turning to look at the one inside with a sheepish smile.

"Didn't see him out there, I must have startled him when I got up." She murmured. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"I wish I would have woken sooner." Tori eyed the angle of the sun and sighed. "We can't get used to sitting around, we'll never get anywhere."

"You looked so sweet, sleeping. I didn't want to wake you." Ruby shrugged ever so slightly and Tori blinked up at her, color rising in his cheeks.

"I looked what?" He asked almost indignantly. Ruby just laughed, offering him her hand. Instead of using it to pull himself to his feet, he tugged hard enough to bring her down to him, a squeak escaping her as she fell against his chest.

As they lay there, gazing at one another, Ruby offered Tori a shy smile and tilted her head to the side. He didn't smile, he didn't move, he didn't speak, he simply stared up at her with his luminescent eyes, breath soft and even.

"This isn't very productive." Ruby said with a soft giggle, Tori raising an eyebrow.

"It could be."

"Getting started before you're even up out of bed, hm?"

"What can I say? I rise to the occasion."

"I see that, very clearly." Ruby's final whisper made Tori's cheeks flush again, and her own face was so hot, she was sure it was redder than it had been for some time. "You're obviously feeling better."

"I'm feeling just fine. Better than fine. I'm peachy." He shifted ever so slightly but refused to relinquish his grip on her, a sigh escaping his throat as he leaned his head back again.

"So, I was thinking we should actually go and find some food today. What do you think?" Ruby asked after a few long minutes of awkward silence, her heart beating so hard she was sure he could feel it against his chest. Tori lifted his head to look at her, then shifted his grip so that he propped himself up with one elbow, chuckling.

"Food would probably be good. I'm sure you're hungry."

"And a little more picky than you. I'd give anything for food that's not packaged for once. I know that's not gonna happen, but a girl can dream, right?" Ruby sighed dramatically, her eyes meeting his when his hand cupped her chin.

"I'm rubbing off on you, it appears." He rumbled, Ruby finally managing to escape his grip and stand up again.

"Spending as much time with a person as I spend with you can do that, Tori. Now get up, we've gotta get moving before we lose anymore daylight. It'll be a miracle if we find a safe room tonight." She glanced out the door, seeing that new infected had moved into the area during their eventful yesterday.

"Maybe one with a shower." Ruby rolled her eyes as Tori spoke, keeping her back to him as he pulled himself stiffly to his feet. It was going to be one of those days, obviously, one of those days where everything out of Tori's mouth was inappropriate, immature or innuendo.

It was better than angry Tori, though, or brooding Tori. He managed to make brooding handsome, but it wasn't good for her at this point in time.

It wasn't good to find him handsome with all that was hanging in the air between them.

"Food first, though." Tori sidled up behind her with his axe against his shoulder, shuffling her out of the way so he could open the safe room door and go out first, as was tradition with them.

Tori always went first, just in case. He had almost insisted on going into the safe room first as well when she had been pounced and thoroughly manhandled by a Hunter on their travels, but had quickly decided that was very un-gentleman-like of him.

The Smoker made short work of any infected that had strayed too close to the door and Ruby busied herself shooting others from afar with her pistol, their teamwork seeing them easily through the first part of the street towards a grocery store Tori knew was nearby.

The store had been understandably ransacked, but they managed to scrounge together more easily transportable food, stuffing their packs with as much as they dared to carry. Ruby gazed wistfully at the produce section, seeing that the other survivors that had passed through had taken all the irradiated apples, leaving only spoiled food behind, and neither she nor Tori dared enter the meat section.

Their luck was with them today, however, and Tori guided Ruby to the frozen food section where the electricity was still buzzing. They couldn't take what was in the freezers with them, but Tori offered to watch the door for her for a time while she indulged in some frozen treats, something that made Ruby rather jubilant.

Ice cream would be a bad idea, it might upset her stomach with how rich it was, but she could definitely eat some of the frozen fruit, choosing a small package of blueberries and sitting on the floor in front of the cooler to eat them.

A little while later, lips and fingers stained purple with blueberry juice, Ruby exited the store again with Tori at her side, a smile on her face. He seemed a lot more relaxed today than he had been the day before, and Ruby hoped it was an indication that things were going to start looking up for the two of them.

"There's a road that leads out of the city nearby, into the woods beyond. I have a feeling we'll be able to make a good go of it once we get outside city limits, and there should be less there for us to contend with. Maybe we can find ourselves a nice house on the lake, stay there for awhile?" Tori mused as they walked, running his fingers through his ponytail. Ruby blinked up at him and tilted her head to the side.

"Stay in one place? Sounds nice. A little too nice." She murmured, smirking a little. "I didn't take you as the type to settle down and play house, anyway, Tori."

"Shows how little you know me. If it was possible, I'd get us started having babies right away." He grinned at her when she shot him a look, swinging her around into a quick embrace.

Their travels were relatively unhindered, which was a bad sign instead of giving them a misguided sense of good luck. There were certain types of infected that the lessers would avoid… Tanks were one of those types, other Smokers and Hunters were two more.

Smokers and Hunters were soft and succumbed easily to bullets or blows from an axe.

Ruby had never actually defeated a Tank… most of her time had been spent running from them and hiding when they showed up.

When they reached the safety of the safe room however, the hulking body of one of the giants lay outside it, the smell overpowering and terrible. The sight of the thing, dead, did nothing to Tori's nerves… in fact, Ruby suspected he was more on edge now that he saw it was dead than he had been when he thought it was still alive.

"Why the fuss?" She asked, touching his arm gently. "It could have been other survivors?"

"That's why I'm fussing." Tori rumbled, Ruby raising and eyebrow at him. "Come now, you heard my story… you know my reputation."

"Are you saying there are other girls like Ashley?" Ruby asked quietly, narrowing her eyes, but Tori grimaced at her and shook his head.

"For the love of Darwin, of course not. Ashley was the only girl I ever infected, and I would never do the same thing again." He sighed shortly. "There are just a lot of people out there I've met, a lot of people who know my secret, a lot of people I've made miserable. I'm sure, if we were to meet with any one of them again, I'd end up with my brains splattered all over the wall or the ground."

"Then we'll just have to avoid them." Ruby stepped past the Tank's body and into the safe room, Tori following her shortly after casting another glance around.

Ruby found herself thinking that there was probably more to Tori's story than he was letting on…

…

Tori's coughing woke Ruby from fitful sleep, the girl sitting up and running her fingers through her wavy hair before looking around the darkened safe room to try and figure out where Tori was. His dark jacket made him blend in with the wall, and if he had his eyes closed, it was next to impossible to see him in the dark.

Luckily for her, he had his eyes open, though they seemed a little cloudy and dim from where she was sitting. Crawling across the floor to him, she touched his shoulder in a comforting manner, a gasp escaping her when he leaned into her with a whimper, the coughing resuming once again.

Wrapping her arms around him as gently as she could, not wanting to hinder his breathing in any way, Ruby reached her fingers up and stroked his hair, whispering softly to him in an effort to comfort him while they waited the coughing fit out.

One of his clawed hands closed on the back of her shirt, claws digging in ever so slightly as he gripped it tightly, the coughs beginning to mingle with hoarse sobs that probably did nothing to assist his breathing. Ruby continued to whisper comfort to him, wiping his face free of tears and kissing his forehead, rubbing his back, her efforts beginning to pay off as he stopped panicking and began to breathe a little more easily.

Tori continued to lean against her, Ruby continued to stroke his hair, leaning down to sing to him quietly as they crouched on the floor together.

"Little child, be not afraid though rain pounds harsh against the glass like an unwanted stranger. There is no danger… I am here tonight."

Tori took in another gasping breath and leaned his head against her shoulder, letting his luminescent eyes close.

"Little child, be not afraid, though thunder explodes and lightning flash illuminates your tear stained face… I am here tonight. And someday you'll know that nature is so, the same rain that draws you near me falls on rivers and land, on forests and sand and makes the beautiful world that you see in the morning…"

Ruby's voice was soft, sweet, Tori once again opening his eyes to gaze up at her with an expression of ease and comfort on his face.

"What would I ever do if I lost you?" He whispered, voice a little more hoarse than usual. Ruby smiled at him gently and brushed his hair from his face, letting out a sigh.

"You'd find me again, I'm sure." She whispered back, Tori's eyes widening slightly in the darkness.

His hand found her face, one claw stroking her cheek gently, then Ruby felt his weight shift, his breath washing over her face. Her heart skipped, a flutter running through her stomach and her breath catching just as Tori pressed his lips to hers.

It wasn't the same kind of kiss they had shared before. It wasn't hard and furious, deep and passionate, but then the purpose of it wasn't to offer Tori an outlet.

This was gentle, careful… loving.

He pulled away far too soon, his voice barely understandable when he spoke, so choked were his words.

"What have you done to me?"

"What do you mean?" She breathed, Tori's hand still cupping her cheek.

"I… wasn't supposed to fall in love with you. I wasn't supposed to… it'll only make it hurt more when it's gone. When you're gone." Tori leaned his forehead against hers.

"I'm not gone, Itoria. And I'm not going-" Tori cut her off with another kiss, leaning against her a little more firmly. With one hand on her back and the other braced against the floor, he lowered her back and settled against her, allowing her to shift to get comfortable before venturing to deepen the kiss they shared. Ruby's arms wrapped around him, her hands sliding over his shoulders, arms and back as one leg slid up the outside of his. This gesture made a surge of fire rush through him, a deep breath and a clenched fist the only things that kept him from acting on it.

Ruby fingers moved to the buttons on his jacket, undoing them slowly as he continued to kiss her, and a smile touched his lips.

He shrugged the jacket off after she unbuttoned it, not bothering to break the kiss, the feeling of her cool hands on his too warm skin sending a shiver down his spine. He slid his fingers up beneath her shirt, feeling the muscles of her stomach flutter as he dragged his claws very gently over her skin, a soft noise escaping him as he pulled away at last.

"I love it when you use my full name." He whispered to her, and she let out a soft giggle, dragging her fingers through his long black hair.

"Can it happen like this, Itoria?" Ruby asked, Tori tilting his head to the side curiously. "You said before it couldn't happen the way it seemed it was going to happen… but can it happen like this?"

"I might die." Tori said seriously, Ruby letting out a startled noise. "After that coughing I just did, um… such activities might not be such a good idea."

"If I hadn't seen the way you were just coughing, I'd write this off as just another "Not now honey, I have a headache" line, but… that was one of the worst ones yet, wasn't it?" Ruby murmured, continuing to run her fingers through his hair.

"My lungs have never burned like this before. Not since the day I turned." Tori whispered in return, shifting so that he lay beside her instead of on top of her and getting comfortable. They lay in silence for a few moments, then Ruby sighed softly.

"Hey, Tori?"

"Hm?"

"… I love you, too."

…

Tori's familiar warmth was gone the next morning, and Ruby's neck and back were stiff from the strange position she had managed to get herself into while she was sleeping. She lifted her head with a soft groan, startling when Tori suddenly swooped down beside her and put a hand over her mouth, raising one finger to his lips.

She blinked at him, sitting up, half expecting to hear another Witch crying outside. Instead, she heard voices, sitting up a little straighter with wide eyes. Tori hushed her again, standing himself and moving back to the door to look out. Ruby scrambled to her feet and looked up at him, wondering why he seemed so tense and frightened.

"Other survivors." She whispered softly, Tori nodding. "We should-"

"We need to leave." Tori rasped, taking her arm in his hand and moving towards the back door.

"What? NO! Tori, we can't keep going back, it's taking too long!" Ruby planted her feet firmly but Tori pulled her easily forward anyway, his strength far greater than hers.

"There is someone in that group that I do not want to face right now." Tori admitted, turning to face her wearing a look of worry. "There is someone in that group I recognize. Another ghost that I can't handle."

"Tori." Ruby's voice was once again pleading, but Tori shook his head and growled, picking her up and putting her over his shoulder. "HEY! What did I say about manhandling me!!"

"I don't have time for this, Ruby, we need to go."

"What are you so afraid of?!"

"I'm afraid of losing you!!" Tori lapsed into more coughing, still managing to struggle to the back door and wrenching it open. Ruby fell silent, staring back at the safe room until Tori hooked his tongue on a fire escape and pulled both of them up, the ground falling away in a dizzying swirl.

"You keep saying that you're worried about losing me. Losing me to what, Tori? Other than the possible chance of you driving me off by being an asshole, which probably won't happen if it hasn't already…" Ruby muttered indignantly.

"There's a girl down there. If we stay, she'll kill you."

"Like Ashley tried to before using you as an easy chair?" Ruby tried to fold her arms, which proved to be not such an easy task in the position she was in.

"Worse, probably. She'd take her time."

Ruby tried to turn to give him a 'look,' but couldn't manage it without making things difficult for Tori.

"Where do you find people like that?"

"I don't always find 'people like that,' y'know? I found you. You're not 'like that.'"

"Don't evade."

"Fine. I found her while I was travelling with some survivors. And I don't want to tell this story while I'm running for our lives, so you can wait until we stop." As he spoke, Tori took a running leap off the side of the building, landing on a lower roof below and continuing on his way. Ruby tried to fold her arms again, letting out a cry of frustration and squirming for all she was worth. "Stop it!"

"No! Put me down!"

"You wanna make those jumps yourself?!"

"I'm not going to be responsible for your hurting yourself!" Ruby continue squirming until Tori finally stopped with a snarl and dropped her unceremoniously on the ground. As Ruby opened her mouth to protest, climbing to her feet, there was a snuffling sound nearby, followed by a dull roar.

Both she and Tori turned to face the sound, the Smoker reaching out to take Ruby's hand in his own tightly.

The Tank had apparently been sleeping on the roof and upon hearing their bickering had awoken, looking madder than hell.

It hurried towards them, the roof shaking from its weight, and Tori didn't hesitate to scoop Ruby up into his arms, leaping off the side of the building as she let out a deafening scream. Managing to keep a grip on his axe as well, Tori used his tongue to swing them to safety, setting Ruby down the second they landed.

With a roguish grin, he swung her close and gave her such a kiss he took her breath away.

"I'll be back. And if not… at least you'll never forget me." He gasped, leaping off the fire escape they had landed on with axe in hand.

The Tank leapt off the building, landing with a crash on a parked car that gave a single squeal before dying, another roar coming forth as it barrelled towards Tori, brandishing fists menacingly.

The Smoker stood stark still, waiting for the moment to strike, becoming a blur of movement when the Tank sung its fist. He ducked beneath the fist and twirled out of the way, bringing his axe up to connect with the Tank's mouth, where its bottom jaw should have been, prompting a yelp that was shortly followed by a howl of rage.

When the Tank swung both firsts up to crush Tori beneath them, Ruby gasped and cried the Smoker's name, leaning forward on the railing where she was standing.

Tori leapt up into the air, high, his leather jacket swooping out behind him almost like a cape, landing on the Tank's arm after it smashed its fists into the ground. He scaled the Tank using its arm as a ramp, standing on its shoulders as it thrashed wildly and raising his axe above his head.

The Tank reached up and grabbed Tori's jacket, using it to swing him through the air with another bellow. Tori was flung to the side like a ragdoll, only his quick reflexes keeping him from smashing into the side of a building.

Wrapping his tongue around a light pole, Tori let out a choked gasp and dropped hard to the ground, laying still for a second before attempting to get to his feet. By the time he was up, Ruby's gun was barking and the Tank was headed straight for her, snarling.

Eyes widening, Tori reached out and grabbed the light pole again, gripping it as tightly as he could before shooting his tongue out again and wrapping it around the Tank's leg. He then leapt and planted both feet against the pole, pulling back and using his tongue to turn the Tank's bulk and momentum against it. When the giant began falling, Tori freed himself, leaping down and scooping his axe up again.

He ran swiftly towards the Tank, raising his axe up as he jumped onto the massive infected's back. The Tank's roar turned into a gurgling cry of pain when the axe bit into his skull, but the blow didn't kill the beast.

Tori jumped off as it began to rise up, movements jerky, then he swung around and used his inhuman strength to lop the Tank's head clean off.

The Tank's body, spurting blood like a fountain, slowly toppled forward, Tori stepping casually out of the way as it crashed to the ground.

As soon as she was sure it was dead, Ruby climbed down from the fire escape, calling Tori's name as she flew towards him, a grin on her face.

"My God, that was incredible!" She breathed, the Smoker holding her at arm's length so she didn't get covered in blood. "Tori, you're AMAZING!"

"Heh." Tori replied, the sound of footsteps rushing towards them silencing anything further he might have said.


	5. Aster

Ruby and Tori both turned as three other people rushed from an alley to face them, guns raised.

"You killed 'em!" One of the three males remarked with a smile, laughing. "Great job!"

"How in the hell did you do that?!" A second cried, pointing to where the Tank's head lay nearby, eyes widening.

The third male was silent, regarding Tori and Ruby with suspicion in his eyes. He didn't lower his gun, though the other two quickly did, moving to make sure both Ruby and Tori were alright. Tori kept his head lowered so his hat hid his face, speaking very quietly when they asked him questions.

Ruby smiled politely, avoiding many of the more involved questions and turning to look over her shoulder when a fourth person joined them.

"Well well well." A husky female voice murmured, Tori immediately stiffening. "Look what the Tank dragged in."

The person Ruby saw standing there was statuesque, pale skin revealed by a tattered black skirt and a black and purple tank top, the heavy boots the girl wore on her feet going up to her knees. She had the remains of black gloves on her hands, her purple hair hanging over one side of her face as she smiled in a rather wicked manner at Tori.

"Itoria. How good to see you again."

"… wish I could say the same, Aster." Tori rasped a few seconds later, still not bothering to look up.

…

They all moved back to the safe room together, but Tori made sure to keep his eyes away from the girl named Aster, keeping a tight grip on Ruby to keep her from getting too close to Aster and too far from him.

From the look of the girl, Ruby didn't doubt her capabilities and had to honestly believe what Tori had said about the girl killing her was true.

The skirt that Aster wore, what was left of it at least, barely concealed half healed cuts and deep scars on her thighs, some of them looking rather fresh, and there were bruises around her neck and wrists that hinted at some sort of rope use in her past. She had plenty of piercings, and several tattoos that were visible…

She simply screamed bad girl.

Ruby wondered what the girl might have done to make Tori so spooked. She seemed a little like the type of person Tori would take a particular interest in.

The other members of Aster's party were Tristan, Joey and Darren. Tristan was a stereotypical 'good ole boy' from the south that had been here visiting family when the infection hit. He was well versed in the art of shotguns, and had no qualms with chatting up a storm with Ruby, who welcomed the conversation.

Joey had been a self proclaimed 'bully' before the whole mess began, now finding himself forced to rely on those he might have once harassed and hating every minute of it. He had as much experience as Ruby did with guns, but managed to hold his own when he needed to. He was big enough, no infected but a Tank should give him any trouble.

Darren was the suspicious one, never releasing his hold on the gun he carried with him, not even to sleep according to Tristan. He had a pale face and a thin body, his movements feeling a little like stalking as he moved about the safe room.

"So, Itoria, it appears you found yourself a new playmate." Aster's husky voice drawled from across the room, Tori's head turning towards her slowly. The infected man chose not to speak. "Aren't you going to introduce us?"

"Oh don't start, Aster. No one's interested in your theatrics." Joey snapped, shaking his head and making a sound of disgust.

Ruby regarded the two quietly as they began to bicker, leaning over to Tristan to speak in a hushed voice.

"What's going on there?"

"Oh." Tristan's cheeks colored slightly. "Joey an' Aster don' get along real well. See, she's one o' them weirdos that chokes herself ta get a thrill an' all that, and Joey keeps callin' her emo. I tell ya… if we didn' need both o' them an' their guns, I'd suggest Darren an' I go it alone. I ain' used ta travellin' with someone like Aster an' Joey's just a bully."

"I don't think Aster likes me much."

"Don't take it personally… Aster don' like anyone much." Tristan offered Ruby a reassuring smile and patted her on the shoulder, nodding towards Tori. "What's his story?"

"He'll tell you when he's ready." Was Ruby's reply, the girl offering Tristan a smile in return and moving to sit with Tori. The Smoker made room for her, pulling her close after she was settled, but she honestly didn't mind. Being so close to him made her feel safe, especially since Aster's eyes had turned to her the second she stood up.

"We won't be staying." Tori said loudly enough for the others to hear, Darren narrowing his eyes further at the sound of Tori's rasping voice. "We were doing fine on our own and travelling in such a big group invites hardship and heartache."

"I don't think you should leave just yet." Aster replied. "You and I have some talking to do, Itoria."

"Didn't I tell you to call me Tori?" There was a hint of warning in Tori's voice, and Ruby looked up at him with a frown, noticing for the first time that his eyes were black.

"I can't be formal? Address you by your full name?" Aster simpered, leaning back where she was sitting so that her skirt rode up a little more.

"That's a privilege you haven't earned." Tori shot back, his hand on Ruby's arm tightening to a level of discomfort. "You and the rest of your lot will address me as Tori."

"We're not her lot, guy." Joey interjected, hissing slightly in Aster's direction. "She's just here to provide more bullets."

"Tori's just repressing his feelings for me, don't mind his short temper." Aster replied, giving Tori another wicked smile. "Why don't you all take a walk so Tori and I can get caught up? I'm sure he's been dying for this reunion."

A hot, prickly sensation rose up in Ruby's body, her heart beginning to beat a little faster and her hands clenching into fists as they rested on her legs. She stared at Aster in disbelief, then glanced up at Tori, who was stiff, silent and utterly still.

"That." He began, his voice more a growl now than ever. "Is not going to happen. The reason we're not staying is because of you."

"You think I didn't know this, Itoria?" Aster continued grinning. "It doesn't change the fact that you're repressing, my fine friend. And have you forgotten? I have leverage… if you don't stay and talk with me, I'm going to tell them all your dirty secret."

Ruby's heart jumped, Tori took in a slow breath and the three other boys exchanged glances with one another curiously.

"Tori?" Ruby whispered, the Smoker looking down at her and holding up a hand in a gesture she supposed meant for her not to worry.

"I'm not going to play your little game, Aster. So no, we're not going to talk one on one at the current moment. We will, however, keep travelling with you for the time being. It might take a load off of all of us." Tori rasped, narrowing his eyes at Aster.

The girl stared at him for a long time, then leaned back in her seat with a shrug and a smile, crossing her legs.

"Sounds good to me." She murmured, shifting her eyes briefly to Ruby. "It'll give us all a chance to really get to know one another."

"We're not sharing our food with you guys, you'll have to get your own. We've carefully rationed it so that we have enough for all of us, but not enough for extras." Darren suddenly said, his voice surprisingly soft and high.

"It's fine, we've got out own." Ruby replied to him, frowning a little more deeply.

She understood Tori's need to keep his secret a secret, but she didn't like the thought of staying around these people more than they needed to. Something about Darren didn't sit right, and Aster…

Aster was going to kill her in her sleep.

…

It took her longer than Tori had expected it to, but Aster eventually found her way into the room he was sharing with the other guys, having removed her high boots so that her bare feet made no sound on the floor.

With so many of them, only one person was taking watch… Aster had been on first watch, but she obviously felt it safe enough to abandon her post to come here. Tori didn't move when she dropped to all fours at the end of his makeshift bed, crawling over his prone form until her knees were on either side of his hips and her hands were placed over his shoulders.

He didn't speak until she leaned down to brush her lips over his neck, his voice soft enough and pitched for her ears only so it didn't wake the others.

"Stop it."

"Why?" She whispered back, drawing her tongue over his ear and chuckling. "It's what you want."

"Might be the sort of thing I want, but I don't want it from you."

"Tori, your body says otherwise." Her hand slid down over his stomach and between his legs, cupping him and squeezing firmly. Tori took a deep breath in and shifted ever so slightly, his heart pounding in his chest. "When are you gonna give it up?"

"Never to you." Tori replied, Aster chuckling again and continuing her administrations. Heat rose in his cheeks, his voice becoming deeper as he spoke a little more loudly. "I'm going to break your arm if you don't stop."

"And if you break my arm, I'm going to tell them all what you really are, Tori."

"The only reason I haven't killed you and all of them is because of Ruby. And of course, that's why you're here, isn't it? Being this aggressive?" Her hand faltered slightly, her eyes meeting his, and she tilted her head slowly to the side with a wicked smile.

"Is she your lover, Tori?"

"She will be." Tori rasped, the fact that she wasn't keen on moving her hand becoming very distracting. "I care about her."

"That's a poor thing to lie about. Because we both know you're incapable of feeling that way for anyone. The infection keeps people from becoming anything more than toys to you, and I was the toy that came broken and that's why you threw me away." She squeezed hard as she hissed this, Tori letting out a strangled noise and putting his hand over his mouth. "Look at you… you're so hard you're going to explode. That girl's been keeping you at arm's length, hasn't she? Denying you-"

"You're wrong." Tori interjected after moving his hand from his mouth. "I'm the one making her wait. I want the time to be right…"

Aster sat back with shock written on her features, her hands moving to rest on her scarred thighs. She stared down at him, swallowing a few times and opening her mouth to speak, then she let out a soft growl and pushed herself to her feet.

"Aster!" Tori snarled. "If you hurt her, I'll kill you."

The snarl woke Darren, who sat up with a gasp and snatched up the gun that had been resting beside him. He looked around the dark room with wide eyes, seeing Tori and Aster both awake, a frown touching his features.

"What's going on?" He asked, rubbing his eyes with his free hand before getting to his feet.

"Your turn for watch." Aster said in a sickly sweet voice, turning to look at Tori with a heated stare before stalking from the room. Tori watched her go, his face still feeling hot and his body responding inappropriately to Aster's actions.

"What did you do to her?" Darren growled, turning his attention back to Tori.

"Nothing. She accosted me, asshole." Tori grumbled, also getting up off his bed and moving to the window across the room while dragging his fingers through his hair. The rage inside him was building to dangerous levels… he had to find an outlet before he did something he would regret.

"Right. That doesn't surprise me. Too bad you didn't kill the bitch and put us out of our misery. She's a nightmare." Darren said softly, Tori glancing over at him with black eyes. "What? It's true! Do you two have a thing?"

"In her dark and lonely nightmares." Tori whispered in return, moving out of the room to see if Ruby was alright. Darren watched him for a moment, then checked to see if his gun was loaded, the safety on.

…

When Ruby woke the next morning to the sound of voices outside the room she had taken to sleep in, (the boys were refused entry to the room by Tristan, who wouldn't stand for a man and a woman to share a room without being married or related) she found herself looking straight at Tori as he slumped against the wall, hungry black eyes fixed on her.

Her heart immediately began hammering and she sat up, Tori rising with her, his movements slow and careful.

"We can't deal with this right now." She breathed very softly, Tori tilting his head to the side. "What happened to you?"

Tori didn't speak, stepping to the bed and reaching down to put his hand on the back of her head, his breath escaping as a soft growl. He wasn't as far gone as he had been when he killed Ashley, he wasn't letting the infection get the better of him, but something had gotten him pretty bent out of shape.

Trembling, Ruby leaned up towards him as he leaned down, closing her eyes as he kissed her. The others were preparing food, from the smell of it, and knowing they wouldn't be invited for breakfast was a small comfort…

If Tori didn't get this out of his system, someone was going to die. Either him, or all of them.

His claws scraped over the back of her neck and he rumbled deep in his throat, the kiss as hard and deep as the day Ashley died. Ruby gripped his arms tightly, breath short and shallow and her eyes rolling back, the space he was putting between their bodies almost like torture to her.

She suddenly wished there weren't so many people outside the room.

It took several long minutes, but eventually his kiss became more gentle, the hand on the back of her neck giving her a reassuring squeeze before he pulled away. Their eyes met, Ruby's full of questioning while Tori's were full of pain, a dull amber.

Ruby pulled him back down and kissed him deeply again, stroking his cheeks with gentle fingers as she broke away.

"Are you alright?" She whispered, Tori managing a jerky nod before kneeling on the floor beside the bed. He embraced her more for comfort than anything, rubbing his cheek against her shoulder and letting out a shaky sigh. "Tori, what happened?"

"We have to get out of here." He whispered. "First chance we get, we have to get out of here." Ruby nodded in agreement, a knock on the door frame making her turn where she sat.

Tristan gave them a disapproving look, mouth twisting grumpily, but when she flashed him a smile and shook her head ever so slightly, his expression softened.

"Y'all should get somethin' ta eat before we head off. We're gonna do a big push today cause there's so many of us." The boy explained, Ruby nodding and offering him a quiet 'okay,' before turning her attention back to Tori. "Hey, he alright? He's lookin' paler than yesterday."

"Just bad dreams. He'll be alright." Ruby breathed, surprised the lie came so easily. Maybe Tori really was having a bad influence on her.

"A'righ'." Tristan remained in the door for a moment, then moved away to join his team for breakfast.

Ruby was still for another long moment, then she kissed Tori's hair and lifted his face to look at hers. His eyes were glowing again, a brilliant amber, but he still wore sadness in his eyes.

"C'mon, Tristan's right. Let's grab some food and get ready to go." She murmured to him. Tori managed a smile, pushing himself to his feet and putting a hand on her shoulder for a lingering moment before shuffling away.

Ruby watched him go, worry continuing to increase inside her. She knew Tori would tell her when the time was right for him, probably when it was an inappropriate time for her, and something told her the root of the problem began with an A.

Indeed, Aster seemed to be at once smug and furious when they finally joined the others to partake of some of their own gathered rations, the girl's eyes fixed on her for far longer than was necessary or comfortable as they packed their things.

Tori stuck as close to Ruby as possible, and Ruby didn't mind the company. Tristan was nice enough, in some ways a little too nice, Joey was a bit of a jerk and distant and Darren asked too many questions, seeming a little too trigger happy for her tastes. These three combined with Aster made for a very unnerving combination and Tori's closeness was all that kept Ruby from running for the hills.

They restocked on ammo, pushed the door open and headed back out into the end of the world.

The people they had hooked up with were particularly practiced at killing the infected, Darren being more of a spraying bullets in all directions type while Tristan took careful aim and killed anything that got close.

Joey seemed to be pretty good at getting headshots with his pistols, Ruby wondering if perhaps he had some experience playing games before this whole thing started, but something told her that asking him about it wouldn't be good for her health.

Aster not only shot the infected, she got right in the fray and pummelled them to death much the same way that Tori enjoyed doing, even driving the heel of her boot through one of the zombie's head after knocking it down with a well aimed punch.

Tori was in top form, swinging his axe and spinning through crowds of the infected, laying waste to anything stupid enough to get into reach.

The highlight of the day was when Joey managed to punch a Hunter in the face in mid air as it was about to leap on Ruby, the force of the blow sending the creature spinning away, finally falling dead against the side of a nearby building.

The others cheered him on and Tristan declared that when they found some beer, he'd toast Joey till they couldn't see straight anymore.

Making it to the safe room was a much easier and much more enjoyable experience than Ruby had thought it would be, and by the time they figured out watches and got some food in them, it was time to sleep. She offered to take first watch, wanting to pull her own weight, and Darren thanked her graciously for the chance to sleep a whole night.

Ruby didn't let any of them know that she didn't feel safe sleeping in that safe room with them…

…

Tori was still awake when Ruby roused Tristan to take over watch, catching her arm when she tried to leave the room. She jumped and let out a squeak of surprise, looking over her shoulder at him with wide eyes but not protesting or resisting when he pulled her down to the makeshift bed. He gathered her close and let out a gentle sigh, Ruby making herself comfortable before quickly falling asleep.

Exhausted as he was, Tori wasn't going to sleep tonight. He had his own watch to do, and no matter what happened, he was going to keep Ruby safe.

Ruby was his world, his world at the end of the world… and if he lost Ruby, there would be nothing to save him.

The thought was a dark one, and one he couldn't help having, so Tori wrapped his arms around Ruby and settled back for a long night.

…

…

…

Author's Note!!

I want to thank all of you for reading this story and for the wonderful reviews that I've received! I'm glad you like Tori so much, he's certainly one of my favorites to write with!

If you're interested in the music I'm piping in while I'm writing, check out Tori and Friends playlist on Project Playlist, or !!


	6. Possession

_The sound of gunfire continued behind them as they hurried into the safe room, one of the others shouting in agony before Tori slammed the heavy door shut. It was too late to save them, and their spraying bullets was only wasting what precious little they had. _

_He lay his precious cargo on the ground with her back against the wall at the back of the room, checking to make sure the Hunter that pounced her didn't do too much damage. She looked up at him with dark eyes and a smile that seemed out of place considering the situation. Her skirt was far more tattered than it had been before, and Tori looked down at the blood that stained his hands, seeing it came from several long gashes across her thighs. _

_He looked up at her with shock in his face, then took her face in his hand firmly, gritting his teeth._

"_These are self inflicted." He growled, her head tilting to the side playfully. "Aster!"_

"_What? You seem so horrified, Tori. I thought it would make me more interesting." She purred to him, Tori jerking his head away when she tried to kiss him. "Doesn't it make me more interesting?"_

"_No." Tori breathed, standing and backing up a few paces. "No, it doesn't. It just proves how incredibly sick you are."_

The memory of her Chesire grin made Tori jerk away in darkness, his movement making Ruby stir in his arms. She made a soft noise but didn't wake, a sigh escaping her as she rubbed her face against his chest and continued sleeping. Tori tried to force himself to relax, but all his muscles were tense and his heart was hammering in his ears. The familiar rage of the infection was starting to well up in him again… a bad sign.

He didn't dare leave Ruby there on her own, he didn't dare offer to take watch unless he could take watch with her, and right now, she was sleeping so sweetly he didn't want to disturb her.

Tori closed his eyes tightly and thought of the lullaby that Ruby had sung him during his coughing fit, the tune and the memory of her voice calming the inner rage enough for him to no longer worry about it getting out of hand. He could hear one of the other boys stirring somewhere in the room and figured it was very early morning, just before the sun rose for the day.

Almost time for them to go.

"Wake up." He whispered close to Ruby's ear, the girl stirring again and letting out another sigh. "Wake up, my beautiful Ruby."

Her pretty blue eyes opened and she looked up at him, frowning ever so slightly.

"It's still dark. I don't wanna…" She mumbled, rubbing her face in his chest again and growling. Tori let out a soft chuckle.

"It's better to get an early start, y'know?" He said, shifting to sit up and letting her stretch out. Tristan was groggily rubbing his eyes across the room, Joey, Aster and Darren were all missing, so Tori figured they were already up.

He stood and reached for his leather jacket, slipping it on after offering Tristan a good morning. Tristan grumbled one in return, the Smoker smirking as he moved out to join the others.

Aster was standing near the door with her gun, her eyes falling on him with a smoldering look as a smile split her features. That was the smile that haunted his dreams…

Tori felt a cold shiver slither up his spine.

_The cold band of steel closed around his wrist as Aster put one hand in the center of his chest and pushed him onto the hospital bed, the other end of the handcuff locking around pole across the head of the bed behind him. Tori's eyes widened in shock, but before he could use his other hand to stop her, she put her knee in his gut and locked his other hand onto the pole with a zip strip, at last slapping some duct tape over his mouth so he had no way to stop her. _

"_Trust me, Tori." She hissed, her purple hair brushing his chest as she leaned down to kiss it. "I'm going to hurt you, and you're going to enjoy it. Then you won't think I'm sick anymore… you'll see things from my point of view."_

_She straddled his waist and pulled out a small razor blade, leaning over him again. He shuddered and panted for breath when she made the first cut, long and shallow, blood welling up on his stomach as she drew the razor down towards the waistband of his pants. _

"_You get your jollies torturing people, mind and emotion. I get mine torturing them in body, Tori. And this… well, this is the most fun I've had in years." She drew her tongue over the wound she had just made, Tori squeezing his eyes shut tightly. His skin was crawling, his heart was pounding, his stomach was churning… _

"Tori?" Tristan's voice said, bringing him back to the present. "Here man, take it." He was attempting to offer Tori an extra side arm they had found in the room, the Smoker shaking his head firmly and patting his axe.

"I've got all I need." He whispered, turning to look at Ruby when she placed her hand on his arm.

"A'righ'." Tristan shrugged, smiling at him. "You ARE pretty good with that axe o' yours."

"He's had lots of practice." Aster murmured, looking for a long moment at Ruby before turning to open the door. Tori's hand gripped his axe, white knuckled, and he clenched his teeth so hard his jaw creaked, stepping out immediately after Aster to put distance between her and Ruby.

Aster had learned quickly just how to push Tori's buttons. She had learned what issues to press, what things to do to make Tori lose himself, completely drop his guard. She knew exactly how to get him so worked up that there was only one way out.

Tori couldn't be completely sure, but Aster may have even used him to kill two other survivors they had been with. There had been blood everywhere…

But at that time, Tori hadn't cared. At that time, release was his only focus and Aster had helped him reach it, again and again.

He was terrified of her.

If the infection hadn't ravaged their world, he was sure she would have become a different breed of monster, one behind closed doors, hiding in shadows. Here, in this hell on earth, Aster had no reason to hide.

In this world of monsters, Aster was just one more. Perhaps a worse one than the mindless, a smart and manipulative one, but one none the less.

Watching her now, wading into the battle with a cry and using her body to inflict pain and death, Tori felt ill. So he shifted his focus to something that mattered, kept his eyes and his mind on the precious jewel that was his release now, his world.

His world at the end of the world.

…

By the time they made it to the outskirts of the city, they were forced to stop and rest due to Tori's diminishing health. This coughing fit was worse than the one a few days before, leaving the Smoker so exhausted that he requested they set up camp right there and wait to move further in the morning. Ruby stayed with him, singing him a soft lullaby, and Tristan kept vigil over Tori as well, prodding at the fire they had made to keep warm.

Darren was standing watch, leaving Aster to speak to Joey off to the side in relative quiet.

"She's a pretty little thing, isn't she?" She whispered, nodding towards Ruby. Joey frowned up at her, shrugging.

"Prettier than you." The large young man muttered, Aster letting out a husky laugh. "She's got nice eyes. She's a nice girl. She's not a freak like you."

"I bet it's been awhile since you saw a girl like that, huh?"

"What game are you playing now, Aster?" Joey's voice had lowered and Aster felt the tension in the man rising. "If you're trying to tempt me-"

"Maybe I am." Aster interrupted, leaning back on the fence where she was sitting and resting her back against the tree behind her. "Maybe you ought to hear me out. After all, you know the world doesn't work the same way anymore."

"You're not using me to get to Tori. Ruby's not THAT great." Joey said dryly, walking away from her. Aster felt a stab of frustration, a muscle jumping in her jaw as she grit her teeth and watched his retreating back.

She obviously underestimated how smart the giant of a man was, and the miscalculation would be her last. If she wanted this to work, she had to stop being sloppy. Her focus was slipping…

Jumping down from the fence, she wandered towards the guard's booth nearby, making it appear that she was inspecting it for supplies. Darren glanced at her in the darkness and shook his head ever so slightly before turning his attention back to his watch, leaving Aster to gingerly pick up one of the broken pieces of glass from the guard's booth's broken window without being noticed.

She continued around the booth and moved back into the shadows near the fence, turning to look back at the fire and the other members of her 'party' as she selected a good vantage point on the fence. Getting comfortable, she smoothed her free hand over her leg and shivered ever so slightly.

One small cut, that's all she needed right now. One small cut, spilling a few sanguine drops, and she would be able to think clearly. Plan properly.

She was going to make Tori hers no matter what she had to do. She had killed before for him, with him, and the memory sent a thrill through her like nothing else.

Aster would have him even if it meant killing every living thing that stood between them. She had almost made him understand, had almost broke him and shaped him into her personal monster, but at the last second the monster grew a conscience and ran away, leaving her without an outlet for her own dangerous frustrations.

She didn't have an excuse for the rage she felt, couldn't blame it on a sickness. Tori had made it very clear to her in the beginning that she was immune and no matter how hard she tried or what she did to him, he would never be able to change that.

"You should be mine." She whispered, the fire reflecting in her eyes to give them a hungry, feral look.

…

"_You're infected." She breathed, their lips still very close together, breath mingling and still slightly heavy from the kiss they had shared. "You didn't tell me you were infected."_

"_You never asked." He whispered back, one clawed finger brushing a stray lock of purple hair from her face. His other hand rested on her leg, and she offered him a smile that made him think of cats. _

"_You speak beautiful poetry, dark stranger… but you just proved to me that you can do much better things with that tongue of yours." _

"_What are you saying?" He asked._

"_I'm saying I don't want you to talk anymore." _

"I should have killed you when I had the chance."

Tori's voice came through the shadows to Aster long after the others had gone to sleep. They had decided to let Aster take last watch, and by that time, Tori had recovered from his coughing fit.

"Would you have been able to, Tori? With all that's between us?" She was sitting on the fence again with her gun laying across her lap, the smoke from a cigarette curling around her head.

"_Got any cigarettes?"_

"_That's a stupid question…"_

"_Got any I can have?"_

"Things have changed." Tori growled, looking over to make sure Ruby was still alright.

"Hindsight, huh? Think you'd be able to kill me now?" Aster smiled at him when he turned his eyes back to her.

"I would do it right here and now, and I honestly don't think the others would be too fussed." Tori replied, pushing himself to his feet stiffly and moving into the woods to relieve himself. When he returned, Aster had moved from her perch and was standing near the fire, near Ruby, gazing down at her in a pensive fashion.

Tori tensed, his steps becoming a little quicker, and Aster turned to face him as he approached.

"What's she got, huh? What's she got that I don't?" She asked him simply, taking another drag from her cigarette.

"A conscience." Tori replied without missing a beat, taking Aster's arm and moving her away from the sleeping girl. "I don't trust you, Aster."

"I never asked you to."

"_Trust me, Tori… I'm going to hurt you, and you're going to like it."_

"How long have you been with these boys?" Tori glanced at her as he spoke, seeing that she was taking her time in answering, smoking her cigarette and looking away from him. Before she could answer, however, he let out a soft grunt of amusement. "Not long enough for your tastes, I suppose. Not long enough to try and break them?"

"They're smarter than you."

"They're not sick. They've got control."

"You make poor excuses, Itoria." She turned her dark eyes to him, narrowed them, her mouth twisting slightly. "Poor excuses for what you've done."

"At least I'm trying to find pardon. You've stopped giving a damn about what you've done." Tori's voice dropped lower, into more of a growl.

"That's because I'm not sorry, Itoria." She hissed, tossing the butt of her cigarette into the fire and turning to face him again, stepping a bit closer. "I'm ridding the world of the less worthy. And at one point in time, you were there by my side, helping me."

Tori stared down at her, clenching his trembling hands into fists. His eyes were black, but Aster didn't seem even remotely nervous about this, still smiling up at him.

"You. Used. Me." Tori whispered, Aster stepping a little closer.

"I'll do it again, too." She whispered back, Tori taking in a slow breath. "I'll do it again, Tori. You just watch me."

Darren stirred at that moment, sitting up and looking over at them, so Aster drew away, still smiling, and moved to wake the others. Tori watched her kick Ruby just as she kicked the others, gritting his teeth. His hands clenched so tightly now, his knuckles were white.

…

"You've been sorta distant." Ruby and Tori were walking at the back of the group today, and Ruby spoke very quietly so that only he could hear her. "Clingy… but distant. Is there something you're not telling me?"

"You know better than to ask, Ruby. You're the one who keeps telling people I'll tell them my stories when the time comes." Tori remarked, Ruby's expression a little put out when she looked up at him. "I'm sorry. I don't want to talk about it just yet."

"Will you eventually? I'm really worried about you, Tori." Tori looked away from her, not wanting to utter the biting remarks he caught behind his teeth at the last second, about how he had told her in the first place that they needed to run, how he had told her he wasn't ready to face the ghost of his past that was slowly beginning to torture him into losing himself again. He didn't want to tell her that she never should have fought him.

Somewhere along the line, Tori had lost something. Again.

"I'll tell you when we get away from these people." He whispered to her.

"When will that be? Tori, why can't you just tell them the truth? Then that girl will have nothing to use against you!" Ruby hissed, catching his hand and pulling him to a stop. "You never ASKED to become like this, and they've seen you fight alongside us, rescue us! You killed that Tank when you could have left it to kill them!"

"They might not see it that way, and something tells me they're not as forgiving as you, Ruby." Tori knew he was just making excuses.

He was terrified. Again, terrified. The fear was more gripping than the rage and he didn't know how to deal with it, so he shut it in himself and tried to push it to the back of his mind.

If he played Aster's game, he would get his chance to finish what he shouldn't have ever started.

He just didn't know how to tell Ruby that.

"We shouldn't fall too far behind." Tori murmured, pulling away from Ruby and moving forward again to try and catch up to the others. Ruby paused only a moment before hurrying along, not wanting to get left behind.

Tori glanced behind him to make sure Ruby was alright, then turned his eyes ahead, his footsteps falling a little slower when he noticed Aster was watching them. The dark look in Aster's eyes made him reach behind and take Ruby's hand, pulling her a little more closely to him for protection.

…

"_What did you do?!" Tori's howl was terrible, but Aster hardly even flinched, meeting his eyes with a sneer, baring her teeth._

"_I didn't like the way you looked at her. I didn't like the way you spoke to her!" The girl shouted in return, the sound of the horde outside almost drowning out their words. _

"_So you left her for dead?! We needed her help, you do want to escape, don't you?!" _

"_That's right Tori, shout yourself into one of those fits you keep having! I'm not gonna hold your hand while you attempt to cough your lungs out again!!" Aster let out a yelp when Tori backhanded her, sending her crashing into the wall behind her and sliding to the floor. She remained still for a moment, rather dazed, then she looked up with a blazing expression on her face. _

_Tori's black eyes bored into hers, and he reached down to pick her up by the front of her shirt, a deep growl escaping his chest. _

"_Stop doing this to me!" His voice was barely recognizable as something human, his free hand closing over her throat as he slammed her against the wall behind her. "Stop pushing me to this!!"_

"_But it's so easy." She gasped. "And think of the rewards, Tori. Think of how we're going to solve this problem! Think of it-" She gagged and clawed at his hand as he tightened his grip, his snarling face inches from hers, the feral expression truly making him look like a monster. He continued growling, slowly releasing his grip as her feet scrabbled at the floor, then he seized her hair in his hand and spun her to face the wall, slamming her into it once again._

"_Some day… I'm going to kill you. And I won't feel bad about it, Aster. I won't." He hissed in her ear. _

_Aster's face split into a wicked grin as she heard buckles and zippers undo, the sound of the horde outside becoming nothing more than background noise as Tori took what he wanted, what he needed from her to make the rage go away. _

_It would have been easy for him to open the door, to go back out into that swarm and kill until he was covered in blood and utterly satiated… _

_But he was in her control, completely under her thumb despite the fact that he was the one jerking her head back and pressing her hard into the wall as he thrust into her, teeth sinking into the flesh of her shoulder and neck, the growls that escaped him making the whole act that much better. _

The feelings that awoke in her from the dream still lingered as they descended the hill to the house by the water the next day, Aster unable to keep the dreamy smile from her face. She had some pretty scars from that night, and she couldn't recall ever screaming so loudly before. The horde hadn't stopped howling at their door until the small hours of the morning…

She turned to walk backwards once they were down the hill, waving the others onwards a little more quickly. Ruby and Tori had taken the rear again, their hushed arguments music to her ears.

Not all was peachy in paradise, it seemed. Perfect.

The house they came to was a little run down looking, probably a really nice place before the infection hit. Now the windows were boarded and there was blood smeared on the front porch and the ground outside. Half of the railings on the deck were broken, and one of the walls had been boarded up, as well as a large section of the roof.

"Cheery." Joey grimaced as he headed up the steps and into the house, Darren standing on the porch to wait until everyone else arrived. Aster also strode in, putting one hand on Joey's far shoulder and tracing her fingers across his back to reach the shoulder nearest to her, the larger young man tensing. She offered him a wicked smile and strode up the stairs, her heavy boots making a hollow noise.

Joey stared after her, then moved to open the door under the stairs, checking for supplies. Outside, Tristan and Darren were shooting a few stray zombies, the former letting out whoops of joy everytime he got a headshot.

Ruby and Tori strayed down to the waters edge to continue their conversation, Tori making sure he was closest to the house so that his back was to it.

Aster moved onto the upper deck and looked around, nodding in approval.

"There are a few bedrooms here, and real beds. We'll take watch shifts, this place should be safe enough to rest a few days." She called down to the others.

"Did you find a radio?" Darren called up to her, the purpled haired girl nodding with a shrug.

"I found one. It's broken, though." She replied. "We might have to take a few days to fix it." She wandered back inside, tossing the screwdriver she held in her hand on the table next to the sparking radio, her smile turning dangerous as she moved back down the stairs.

…

…

…

Author's Note!!

Seems like Aster's got a plan!

Just wanted to note that all the parts in italics are Tori and Aster's memories, just to clear up any confusion y'all might be feeling! Thanks again for reading, I hope you continue to enjoy the story!


	7. Cat's Out of the Bag

Author's Note!!

This chapter is not work friendly… a lot of them haven't been, but this one REALLY isn't. That being said, it's rated mostly for Joey and Aster having potty mouths and a lot of nakedness.

…

…

…

"Don't wander too far!" Tristan called as Ruby and Tori made the decision to spend some time together alone in the lake out back, Ruby reassuring him they'd be fine before taking Tori's hand and offering Tristan a wave. "Damn. How's a fine girl like her end up with a guy like him?" He muttered to himself, leaning back on the porch swing and smirking, shaking his head.

As they wound their way down to the lake, Ruby was quiet, giving Tori an uneasy feeling. He stopped at the edge of it and plunked himself down on a log, taking his hat off and shrugging out of his jacket. When he started taking off his boots, Ruby paused to look at him, smirking.

"What are you doing?"

"Going swimming." He rasped in return, kicking his boots off and standing again. As he reached down to remove his shirt, he looked over to see her doing the same thing, a flush creeping into his cheeks. He always thought, the longer they were locked in this apocalypse, the longer they were forced to share cramped safe rooms and single bathrooms, the less shame they would have.

He was wrong.

Ruby looked over at him as she prepared to remove her own shirt, smirking at him again and giving him a look that clearly asked "What are you waiting for?"

Tori stared at her for a long moment, then slid his shirt off, casting it aside and reaching down to unbutton his black jeans. Her hands on his arms stopped him, and he looked up, the smile on his face sliding away when he saw the look in her eyes.

"Ruby-" He began, her hand reaching up to cover his mouth as her pretty blue eyes took in all the scars on his chest. He could feel his heart hammering beneath her fingers, swallowing a few times as his amber eyes began to sting. He believed this was the first time anyone had ever seen what he looked like under his leather coat…

"Who did this to you?" She whispered, tracing her fingers gently over the long, neat, vertical scars covering one half of his torso. "Oh God, Tori…"

Tori reached up and pulled Ruby's hand from his mouth, catching her other hand as well and opening his mouth to speak. It hurt… his chest was burning and his eyes were stinging but he would be damned if he started crying now.

"Just scars." He finally choked. "Let's go swimming. I want some time with you, to smile… I want some time to forget, alright?"

Ruby nodded slowly, her pretty blue eyes swimming with tears, and together they finished disrobing, even helping one another before slipping into the cool water in nothing but their skin. Tori's hair was so beautiful when it was wet, shining under the light from the moon and stars above them. Ruby always thought she looked a little like a drowned rat when she was wet, and from the way Tori kept giggling at her, she figured he thought so too.

They swam around a bit, not going too deep as Ruby wasn't the best swimmer, then Tori took her hands again and started to draw her into deeper water.

"Tori, no… I'm not-" She protested, the Smoker hushing her softly.

"Trust me, Ruby." He whispered, pulling a little more firmly. "Trust me."

"I do." Ruby whimpered back, moving a bit closer to him. She was on tiptoes now, and Tori took another couple steps back, smiling reassuringly at her. "I really don't like going out over my head…"

"C'mon, it's alright." Tori pulled her closer still, reaching down to lift her by her hips and guiding her legs around his waist. He was much taller than she was, so it was easy for him to balance in the water with her wrapped around him, and she was so light that it didn't bother him much.

As their bare skin pressed together, Ruby's cheeks flushed, her arms wrapping loosely around his neck so she didn't fall backwards into the water. His rasping breath was almost comforting, his hands around her hips supporting her as they stood in the water, gazing at one another.

"I guess we can talk now." He whispered, Ruby's eyes widening. "Now that I have your full attention. But you have to promise me you're not going to overreact or yell or anything, alright? I don't want to attract the attention of the others."

"I can't promise anything, Tori." She whispered in return, shaking her head. "I have a feeling what you're about to say is going to upset me whether you want it to or not."

"You can get upset, just get upset quietly. Please. If anything spoils this night, if anyone interrupts us now, I might do something-"

"-you regret, yeah, I get it. You say that an awful lot… I've never seen you actually do-"

"That's because you're always here." Tori brushed his lips against hers and Ruby fell silent, looking at him expectantly and trying not to shift too much. "I'm pretty sure you can already guess who gave me these scars."

"I didn't want to assume." Ruby murmured. "But I figure it was her. Aster."

"That's right. I'm afraid of her, Ruby. That's why we're still here. I'm afraid of her, more afraid than I ever have been of ANYTHING before." Tori shivered, and she was pretty sure it had nothing to do with how cool the air was getting. "She tortured me, she controlled me, she made me do things that I probably might have never done if it weren't for her influence. She would push me to the point of no return and I would… I had to…" Tori began coughing, Ruby stroking his hair and hushing him gently.

"It's alright, you don't have to say it. Let me think of all those horrible things so I can turn my hate to her…" She whispered, rubbing a spot of moisture off his cheek that had nothing to do with swimming in the lake.

"You said I had been distant. I have been. I'm so terrified, Ruby, I don't know how to function." Tori sobbed, wrapping his arms around her a little more tightly. Ruby hushed him again and kissed the side of his neck, hugging him.

"It's alright. You're going to be fine and I'm not going to let that oversexed bitch get either of us, Tori." She said softly to him. "In fact… if you were to kill her, I promise I'd turn and look away. I'd stare straight ahead and not watch what you were doing… just like with Ashley."

The words hurt her to say them, and she felt a strange churning in her stomach, but everything she said was true.

If Tori were to lose it and kill Aster, she wouldn't miss her. Ruby would be surprised if a soul in the world would miss that girl.

"No… not like Ashley. Ashley's death was quick, clean… Aster doesn't get that luxury." Tori's voice was more hoarse, and his eyes were dark when Ruby looked up at him again.

"Don't get yourself too worked up… I can't swim, remember?" Ruby shifted uncomfortably and Tori made a soft noise, nodding. He waded closer to the shore, still carrying her, settling them both down on the sandy bottom of the lake.

"I'm glad I'm sitting on you. I have no desire to get sand in all my sensitive bits." Ruby grimaced and Tori laughed, shaking his head. When he looked back at her, his eyes were still dark, but he didn't seem to be losing control.

"Thank you for reminding me about what's really important, Ruby." Tori murmured, pulling her a little closer before leaning down to kiss her.

…

Joey's cheeks turned red and he turned his head to gaze in anger at Aster after her long arms snaked over his shoulders, her breasts pressing into his back and hands sliding down his chest. He had been sitting, attempting to fix the broken radio though he had no experience doing so… he didn't need this distraction and certainly didn't want it from Aster.

"Please don't do that?" Joey hoped his voice didn't sound as thick to her as it did to him.

"Why not? I'm just being… friendly." Aster purred, grinning at him. Joey stood, making her arms fall away (considering he was much taller than she was) and turning to face her.

"You're just being you." Joey muttered, exhaling slowly, his nostrils flaring. "What do you want?"

"Tori is fucking Ruby in the lake." Aster's grin turned maniacal and Joey only flushed a little more darkly. "I don't think they care that anyone can see them."

"Why are you telling me this, Aster? Damn you, you're the weirdest person I've ever met. Why don't you go hang yourself for awhile?" Joey pushed past her and moved into the kitchen, bristling when Aster followed him, her boots making a hollow sound on the floor. "Quit following me, I'm not in the mood."

"Well, I am." Aster murmured, sitting on the table in front of him when he sat down on one of the kitchen chairs.

"I don't fucking care, leave me alone! You have this habit of filling a room when you come into one, and it's suffocating!" Joey cried, Aster throwing her head back and laughing.

"See? You say you're not in the mood and you play right into it anyway." She hissed, crossing her long legs and leaning back on one hand. Her other hand reached out to stroke his cheek, one of his huge hands grabbing it firmly. He stood again and twisted her wrist, making her gasp quietly in pain. His face had surpassed red and moved to purple, his chest heaving.

"Don't think I won't break your fucking arm just because you're a girl, Aster. Hell, you're more monster than woman, aren't you? People don't need to be afraid of zombies when people like you exist." He hissed, Aster looking up at him with a strange gleam in her eyes.

"I like pain, Joey, so you'd be doing me a favor. Aah… you're doing a good job right now." She breathed. "And I'm flattered you find me so frightening. It means I'm doing my job right."

"I'm not gonna ask again, Aster." Joey whispered. "What. Do. You. Want?"

"I want you to distract Ruby. I want you to get her away from Tori long enough for me to finish what I started." Aster smiled at him as she spoke frankly, letting out a soft breath and shivering when Joey finally released his grip on her.

"Give me one good reason why I should?"

"If you don't, you're going to find yourself strapped to a chair, helpless, while I prove that behind those quivering muscles… you're a scared, weeping little boy. I'm sure you don't like pain, do you Joey?" Aster's tone was strange, Joey feeling a chill run up his spine.

Big as he was, he had no doubt in his mind she wasn't bluffing.

"I have it in my mind to start driving you mad, Joey. Coming so close to giving you what your body desires, craves… then taking it all away. Taking you to the brink so you won't think twice before doing exactly what I ask. And I'm very good at it… Just ask Tori." Aster whispered, a wicked smile blossoming on her face again.

"If you're so good at it," Joey began, Aster's eyebrow arching. "Why is he out there, fucking someone else?"

He pushed away from the table, moving back to the radio, leaving Aster sitting on the table, stunned. She slowly slid off the table and onto her feet, staring after him for a long moment.

"… never, ever do that to me." She whispered. "I really don't like being proven wrong." Looking around the kitchen, Aster clenched and unclenched her hands into fists, looking for something heavy to hit Joey with. Anger was boiling through her so fiercely right now, she thought she might spontaneously combust. Between Tori and Ruby, and now Joey's boldness, she was ready to kill someone.

Her eyes fell on the fire detector above the stove, widening as a smile returned to her face again.

"Spoil my fun? I don't think so… I think I'll invite a few friends over." She purred, striding over to the fire detector and pulling her lighter out of her pocket. "It's time to party…"

…

When the high pitched noise reached his ears, Tori jerked, head snapping in the direction of it. Ruby looked up at him in alarm, then looked over at the house, a groan of regret escaping her when Tori lifted himself off of her and stood, hurrying to the shore. He stood incredibly still for a long moment, then began to let out bubbling growls and strange choking coughs, turning to look over his shoulder at Ruby.

"Horde's coming. To be continued, I promise." He rasped, scooping up his clothing and beginning to get dressed. Ruby stared at him, then looked towards the tree line, pulling herself out of the water and moving to pick up her own clothing.

"This… is not cool." She hissed, cheeks flushed and frustration swimming through her veins. "Not exactly how I envisioned this sort of thing happening."

"What sort of thing?" Tori asked as he slipped his shirt on.

"This… well… my first time." Ruby's cheeks blazed as she dressed hurriedly and moved towards the house again, leaving Tori to stare after her in shock. He recovered when the first of the infected screamed over the hill, moving after her to make sure she didn't get hurt.

In the house, the fire alarm continued beeping loudly, and shouting voices could easily be heard. Tristan was hollering something at Aster and Joey was bellowing in anger. Gunshots rang out from the house at the top of the hill, Tori silently hoping that Darren would be alright up there on his own.

There was no time to go and rescue him.

Tristan came out on the porch as they moved up the stairs, exchanging a glance with Tori after handing Ruby a gun.

"Ready?" He drawled, Tori nodding. "Joey's watchin' the roof, we should head up and man that big gun on the deck and keep an eye out for anythin' nastier than lessers."

"Roger." Tori gasped. "Was it Aster?"

"Yeah. She and Joey had a row, I guess, an' she lit up a cigarette in the kitchen, conveniently placed in front o' the smoke detector. We'll deal with her when this is done."

"I'll deal with her." Tori said, eyes narrowing. He moved into the house and pounded up the stairs, nodding at Joey as he exited the house once more and stepped onto the upper deck.

Down below, Ruby was still in the kitchen, making sure she had enough ammo before heading back up the stairs. She heard the sound of the battle beginning, the heavy whine of the mini gun, and she glanced at the room where Joey had barricaded Aster in, mouth twisting.

"I'm probably gonna regret this." She murmured, moving to the desk shoved in front of the door and grabbing the edge of it. "But you're not getting away with doing nothing when you made this mess in the first place."

Aster looked at her in surprise when she opened the door, one eyebrow arching and a smirk touching her lips.

"Well well well." She purred. "I don't remember inviting you to the party."

"Shut up and grab your gun. There's a battle to fight." Ruby hissed, moving away from the room and heading up the stairs to help in the fight.

Outside, the infected were swarming everywhere, screaming and clawing at one another as they attempted to reach the survivors assembled on the deck. Tori was manning the min-gun, seeing as it would probably be too dangerous for him to wade into a horde this side equipped with only his axe. The wind generated by the barrel of the gun spinning swept his hair out behind him and made his coat billow. His eyes were as black as the night sky but there was a grin on his face, giving Ruby a bit of comfort.

"Up on the roof!" Joey shouted to her, reaching down a hand to pull her up with him. "You've got pretty good aim and a big gun, stay up here with me!"

There was something unspoken in his words, and when Joey saw Aster exit onto the deck as well, he smirked and took aim with his rifle again. Perched carefully, Ruby took aim herself, firing at any of the zombies that escaped the spray of the mini-gun and Tristan's shot gun, keeping her ears open for any noise not made by a lesser.

The hacking cough of a Smoker came from the distance, and the growling of a Hunter was almost lost in the uproar from the growing horde. The Hunter came up from behind them, on the roof, but Joey was quick enough to bat it backwards when it attempted to swipe at Ruby with its claws, knocking it off the roof and into the water.

The Smoker exploded with a gasp when Tori hit it with the mini-gun, the infected man letting out a shout as he spotted a massive rock flying through the air nearby. The roar froze them in their tracks, the horde slowing to turn and look in the Tank's direction.

Hopping off the mini-gun, Tori looked up towards Ruby and Joey, gesturing for Joey to jump down with them.

"Stay up there!" The Smoker shouted to Ruby, who frowned but nodded, knowing this was probably the best spot to be during a Tank attack. If she was careful, it wouldn't spot her. If it did, she could jump down quicker than it could and escape.

As she moved around to try and get a good vantage point, Ruby kept her ears open for the Hunter that had fallen into the water. They couldn't pounce in the water, but she was pretty sure they could still swim, so she had to be very careful in case it found its way back to the house.

Turning to move to the other side of the house as the Tank charged after Tristan, who was yelling and whooping and waving about his gun, Ruby found herself face to face with Aster, a startled cry escaping her throat.

The taller girl was silent, weaponless, her arms hanging at her sides and her face mostly hidden by both the darkness and her purple hair. Ruby tensed, gripping her gun a little harder, then Aster chuckled.

"You're the bane of my existence." Aster murmured, Ruby growling softly.

"Listen, we don't have time for this right now!" She cried, Aster chuckling again and taking a step forward.

"Oh?" She purred. Ruby brought the gun up to level with her. "Oh, go right ahead. Shoot me… I'm sure no one will miss me, Ruby. They might consider it as doing them a favor."

"I'm not afraid of you." Ruby said, Aster tilting her head to the side and stepping forward again.

"That's why you've still got your gun, right? Why it's pointed at me? You're not afraid at all."

"Tori hates you. He's afraid of you!" Ruby shouted. "Why bother even trying to get me out of the way? It'll only make him hate you more! He doesn't want you, Aster! You're delusional!"

"That's right. Shout your pretty lungs out." Aster's voice was soft, and she stepped forward so that the barrel of Ruby's gun pressed into her chest. "Scream and let the whole horde know you're here. Scream until you can't scream anymore, Ruby."

"If you hurt me, they'll kill you." Ruby whispered, her heart pounding so hard, she thought it would beat its way out of her chest.

"Not if I give them something else to focus on." Aster said, tilting her head to the side. "Don't you think it's time they knew the truth about Tori?"

When Ruby lowered her gun and blinked in shock, opening her mouth to speak, Aster pushed her.

Aster pushed her hard.

Hard enough that she fell backwards, legs and arms flailing, towards the horde waiting below. She vaguely heard someone shout that the Tank was dead, heard someone cry her name, all of it passing her by as if in slow motion.

Just before she fell into reach of the horde, she felt something wrap around her leg tightly, making her jerk to a stop and knocking the breath out of her. She swung towards the railing, lucky that she only hit her shoulders on it and not her head, the blood rushing to her face when she realized what Aster had meant.

Aster wasn't trying to hurt her specifically.

Aster was trying to hurt Tori. And Tori had just saved Ruby's life, sacrificing his secret and his safety to save her. This had been what Aster wanted.

"If I can't have it all…" Aster called from the roof. "Nobody will."


	8. You Look So Fine

Author's Note!!

Again, this chapter may not be work friendly… but for a different reason. This contains a rather graphic scene that may upset some who are weak of heart or stomach… You have been warned!

…

…

…

Tori held her up as best he could from the angle he was at, Tristan and Joey both letting out a shout as they hurried to haul Ruby to her feet again, Joey pulling Ruby behind him protectively as Tristan turned his shotgun to aim at the Smoker, terror in his eyes.

Aster came down from the rooftop, yelping in surprise when a warning shot went over her head and dug itself into the side of the house.

Further out, halfway down the hill, Darren was standing with his eye to the scope on his sniper rifle. He had a murderous expression on his face, seeming more upset about Aster pushing Ruby than he was about Tori being infected.

"The horde-"

"Shut up!" Joey shouted as Tori tried to speak. "Just shut up! Liar! Deceiver!!"

"I never lied to you. I never deceived you." Tori breathed. "You never asked me if I was infected."

"How's this possible? You don' look like one o' them an' you sure as hell don' act like one o' them!" Tristan cried, gripping his shotgun a little harder.

"I promise I'll tell you the story when the horde has been dealt with." Tori tried to keep his voice calm, black eyes turning to look towards Darren, who was still fighting off zombies in an attempt to rejoin them in the house. Aster hadn't moved, both hands raised and her skin even paler than normal. Obviously, Darren's shot had startled her.

"Damn it all, take care of that horde!" Ruby cried from her spot, crouched on the ground behind Joey. "Don't worry about Tori! They're gonna kill Darren!"

Her voice seemed to rouse Joey to his senses, the bigger man turning to fire down at the gathered horde below, giving Darren enough time to get inside. Tristan didn't turn or lower his gun, the expression on his face full of confusion and anger.

Aster stared at all of them in silence, her expression unreadable. She turned to look at Darren briefly when he finally got to them, taking in his dishevelled appearance and the severe bite marks on his arms. There was also one on the side of his neck, although a shallow one, and none of them seemed to be any cause for immediate alarm.

He turned his gun to Aster, glancing over at the others while keeping the gun level on her.

"Seems we have a bit of a problem." He murmured in his soft, high voice.

"A problem with a capitol A." Ruby breathed, Joey turning to look at her.

"Try a capitol T!" He shouted. "Tori's a fucking zombie!"

"Tori's more than they are." Aster murmured quietly. "Why do you think I've gone to all this trouble to-" She was silenced with a yelp by Darren, who struck her across the face with the butt of his gun.

"Shut up, you stupid bitch. How could you? How could you do that to Ruby?! She could have DIED!" He shouted. "She's done nothing to you!"

"This shit is crazy." Tristan breathed, gun still aiming at Tori. "Hangin' with an infected…"

"I'm so sorry, Ruby." Joey said, the girl looking at him in confusion. "God… I can't believe he-"

"Joey, I knew the whole time, alright?" Ruby hissed. "I knew what he was!" Joey turned to face her, his face going pale when she raised her gun to aim at him, hands trembling. "I love him… I don't expect you to understand that, but I love him!"

"And I love her in return." Tori whispered, Aster making a noise like an angry cat.

"This thing, this creature has killed people in horrible, brutal ways. He has taken his frustrations out on me in the past, left me with bruises, scars-" Aster was once again cut off by Darren striking her, spitting out some blood on the deck and glaring up at him.

"You don't get to accuse him of ANYTHING. We know you well enough to know you drove him to it, Aster!" The tall, pale man hissed, Tristan letting out a growl as he shifted his shotgun to Darren and opened his mouth to speak.

Tori's tongue wrapped around the shotgun and wrenched it from Tristan's hands, then the Smoker turned the shotgun to it's previous owner, clawed finger resting on the trigger. Tristan swore softly and raised his hands, shooting a glare in Darren's direction.

Joey glanced around the group and let out a groan, also raising his hands in surrender. Darren prodded Aster with his gun, and she begrudgingly raised her hands, glaring daggers at him and Tori and Ruby.

"Seems we have ourselves a stand off." Tori growled. "Before we jump to any more conclusions, let's go inside and sit down and have a good long chat. Nice and easy now." He shifted around with the shot gun still aiming at Tristan, who nodded.

"You ain' gonna shoot." The southern boy said, Tori offering him an odd twitch that passed for a shrug. "You ain'…"

"I might if you try to kill me." Tori confirmed. "Self preservation and all that."

"Well, I ain' gonna do that either." Tristan said softly, but Tori shook his head and gestured with the gun towards the door. "Fair 'nough."

"Get moving." Ruby prodded Joey with the gun she held, the bigger man handing the gun he was holding to Tori before moving inside with his hands still raised. Darren dragged Aster up to her feet by her hair and shoved her forward, growling fiercely as he followed the rest of the crew down the stairs.

The people held at gunpoint were shuffled into the dining room and sat down in chairs, weapons removed from them, and Tori moved to lean against the wall by the door, watching them carefully.

"Darren… put your gun on the table and sit down, please." He said quietly. "While I appreciate your assistance… you understand, don't you?"

"Yeah." Darren nodded, setting his gun down and sitting at the table himself.

Ruby was shaking still, nervously tucking her wavy hair behind her ear.

"First thing's first…" Tori dragged his claws through his hair. "Yes, I am infected. Yes, I am a fucking zombie. No, I'm not a mindless rage machine. I have discovered ways of dealing with the rage and I'm pretty much just like every other average Joe… just not so average. For one, I'm really good with my tongue."

Joey frowned, Tristan scowled at Tori in disgust but Aster snickered. Ruby's cheeks glowed red.

"For two… I feel I'm slightly higher up on the evolutionary scale than you guys are. The infection has changed me, but it hasn't taken my mind. I'm faster, and stronger than you. That Tank I killed just before you guys came and found us? Yeah, I did that myself. With my tongue, my axe and my bare hands. Pretty cool huh? I could have left it alone, run off with Ruby and left you to take care of it on your own, but I didn't. Why? Cause I'm actually a nice guy."

He emptied the gun he was holding of it's ammunition and set the empty gun on the table, holding up his clawed hands.

"I'm a nice guy. And I've treated you all with enough respect that you shouldn't feel inclined to kill me. Right?"

"This sort of situation really opens your eyes." Ruby finally said. "These creatures, the infected, they're not zombies. They don't eat people, they're not dead, they're just sick. At one point in time, they were no different from any of us with the exception of Aster." She wet her lips and glanced towards Tori. "And it's not like he's been going around, spreading the infection to other people."

Tori nodded at her thankfully and looked around the table, his amber eyes lingering longest on Aster.

"If we're going to make it to safety, I'm going to need you all to trust me. Have I given you any reason to doubt my loyalty?" He rasped quietly, the boys exchanging glances with one another.

"You have given me plenty of reason to do so." Aster muttered, Darren raising his fist menacingly at her and receiving a grunt and a punch in the arm from Tristan.

"As horrendous a girl as she may be… don' hit women aroun' me, ya hear?" Tristan muttered, Darren nodding slightly at him and sitting back again.

"You surprised me." Tori said to Darren, who blinked a few times. "I thought, from the beginning that you were suspicious of me. And you kept an awfully close eye on me."

"I have an aversion to strangers. And it wasn't really you I was keeping an eye on. You, I knew your secret from the start. It's hard not to tell, y'know?" Darren gestured to Aster, who eyed him quietly. "It was this one. We were together already when we met up with Tristan and Joey… I never told them, but there was another girl in our… 'party' before the two other guys joined us. Aster killed her."

"You can't prove that." Aster hissed, Tori reaching down to take her hair in his hand, dragging her head back sharply and ignoring the gasp that escaped her.

"He doesn't need to, I've watched you do it before." The Smoker growled, releasing her and striding across the room. "You guys can have your guns back… I trust that you're not going to kill myself, or Ruby. And since I've given you my trust, you need to give me yours. Please."

"… I dunno." Joey murmured, rubbing the back of his head. "Who's to say you're not gonna kill us in our sleep? Or yours, for that matter, fuck. I mean, you've got a rage disease, what if you lose it?"

"I'll handle that." Ruby said quietly, lowering her gun at last. "Don't worry, we're not going to let Tori hurt anyone."

"Except maybe Aster." Tori said from across the room, where he was standing near the door.

They all exchanged a quiet glance and Aster got to her feet, eyes narrowed.

"You can go ahead and try." She said, tilting her head to the side. "I'd like to see that, Itoria."

"Then come… let's have that one on one chat you wanted so badly. The rest of you, go and get yourselves cleaned up in the lake. Give us an hour or two." Tori replied, dragging his claws through his hair and leaning his head back.

As they stood from the table, Aster bristled, her face turning rather pale. She stared after them as they began to file out of the house, finally letting out an indignant noise and starting after them.

"You're not gonna stop him? He's probably going to kill me!" She cried. "Don't you even care?!"

"In all honesty," Joey began, looking over his shoulder. "No. Not after what you've done."

"You pushed Ruby off the roof, Aster, and forced the secret out of Tori to hurt him, to hurt us. To hurt ALL of us. You don't get any sympathy from me." Darren said softly, not bothering to look at her. Ruby didn't say a word to Aster, offering Tori a gentle kiss before moving outside with the others and glancing back only once.

Tristan stood looking at Aster and Tori for a long time, then he sighed and shook his head.

"You're cold. And cruel. And if it's true that you've killed people, well… there's a special place for people like you, Aster, and you can join each and every one of the people like you that went before you. I won't miss you." He said softly, turning towards the door. "It ain' right. But I won't miss you."

Stepping outside, Tristan heard Tori close the door behind him, grimacing and hurrying to join the others by the docks. Ruby was staring back at the house with tears in her eyes, but she soon turned and looked away.

She turned and looked straight ahead.

She didn't watch what Tori had to do.

…

Tori and Aster stood staring at one another for a long time, without speaking, hardly blinking. Tori rested one hand on the doorknob…

Aster knew she wouldn't be able to run. She knew, if he wanted to catch her, he would be able to do it easily.

"I remember how we met." Tori whispered, Aster jumping a little when he spoke, the eerie silence that had stretched between them breaking soundly. "I remember… Shakespeare. The smell of sweat and blood. You had been eating something… sweet. I remember the taste of it but couldn't give it a name. I remember how warm you were, how fast your heart was beating. I remember the feeling of your blood on my hands."

He stepped away from the door, his head hanging slightly so that his dark hair fell in his eyes. Bone straight… even after drying from the water in the lake.

"I feel… unfinished." He growled, looking down at his hands. "Your antics interrupted me."

"What do you want from me?" Aster gasped, Tori looking up and taking another step forward. She wasn't surprised to see his eyes were black…

"An outlet, for starters. Answers, regarding the attempt on Ruby's life." Tori took another step forward, his heavy boots unnaturally loud on the floor. Aster swallowed a few times, rubbing her palms on the ruin of her skirt and lifting her chin ever so slightly. Her thumb scratched at her flesh, at one of the half healed wounds on her thigh.

Focus, Aster. That's what she needed… focus.

"Go ahead and ask all the questions you want." She breathed, her voice high and airy. "You already know the answers, Itoria."

"Revenge?" Tori took another step forward, leaving very little distance between them. "… release? Jealousy? Obsession?"

"You're mine." Aster hissed. "You belonged to me once and all that stood in the way of my possessing you again was HER. She's made you soft… she's no good for you, Itoria."

One more step forward on his long legs and Tori was almost touching her, gazing down at her with soulless eyes.

"I belonged to you once." He rasped. "Once, and only once. Never again, Aster."

He drew one claw down her cheek, noting her wince and the soft hiss of breath that escaped her, the color of her blood even more vivid against the pale color her skin had taken on.

"What raped your mind and left you in this sorry state, Aster? What turned you into this monster?" He whispered, stepping just a tiny bit closer, so that they were practically breathing the same breath. Aster trembled, staring at him with wide eyes, the eyes of a scared rabbit facing down a dog. "What has bent you like this, Aster? Did someone do to you the things you do to everyone else? Did someone take you the way you took me? Tied down, cut and bleeding, crying and pleading for my life?" Tori reached his finger up and licked the blood from his claw, tilting his head to the side.

"You can't turn this against me." Aster gasped, eyes still staring. "This is my game."

"It seems," Tori began, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "I'm winning now. The tides seem to have turned."

"So what happens now?" Aster asked, voice still high. She didn't try to move away, didn't try to fight, his hand moving to brush the hair from her face very gently.

"Now… we go back to the beginning, Aster. Now we go back and review the script, don't we?" Tori whispered back to her, leaning down so his lips almost touched hers. "I'm ready to stop repressing… I'm ready to give in and give you what you want, but at the same time… I'm going to take it the way that I want. Do you understand?"

"Go back?" Aster squeaked. "Script?"

"Why yes, of course, my Lady Macbeth. I play my part, you play yours." Tori smiled wickedly. "Do you remember how it started?"

"Go back to the beginning… To-morrow and to-morrow and to-morrow…" Aster gasped, eyes fluttering closed. The hand that scratched at her leg was bloodied, but from the look on Tori's face, he didn't mind.

"To-morrow and to-morrow and to-morrow creeps in that petty pace from day to day." He whispered close to her ear, feeling her trembling grow worse. "To the last syllable of recorded time." He paused and drew away, looking down at her. "I believe you were sitting, were you not? Ah, details… I like it better this way."

"And all our yesterdays?" Aster whispered, Tori grunting and nodding.

"And all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death." The growl of Tori's voice was so deep, she could feel it as well as hear it, feel it against her chest, all through her body, down to her feet. She curled her toes and leaned her head back ever so slightly. "You know what's going to happen next?"

"This is the part… where you kissed me." Aster replied to his question, scared to move, hardly breathing now.

Tori's hand closed on the back of her neck, then his hot mouth was on hers and she didn't try to stop him. Leaning up on her toes, into him, Aster let out a soft cry, tears now slipping past her lashes and spilling down her cheeks. He kissed her now the way he had the day they met. He kissed her with the same passion, the same purpose…

But this time, she actually felt the fear he had been trying to feed into her with that powerful kiss. This time, Aster was sure she wouldn't survive this encounter. Tori's tongue curled around hers, tasted and explored forcefully, his claws digging into the back of her neck and making such a heat rise in her body, she thought she might erupt into flames.

When the infected man broke away, he didn't break character, his breath thick now and rasping even more than usual.

"Out, out brief candle. Life is but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets-"

"Shut up." Aster sobbed, Tori smiling down at her in a pleased manner. "… You should just stop. Y-you've proved to me that you're c-capable of… I mean, you… Fuck, I can't remember."

"What are you saying?" Tori hissed, his grip on the back of her neck not lessening. "What are you trying to say, Aster?"

She struggled to breathe, opening her eyes to stare up at him in terror.

"I'm s-so sorry." She whispered, crying out when Tori's hand closed over her throat and lifted her from her feet.

"That's not what you said then! Stick to the script!" He howled, Aster letting out a choked scream. "What are you saying?!"

"I'm saying… I d-don't want to t-talk anymore!" She screamed, panting for breath furiously as Tori let her feet touch the ground once again, his grip loosening. "P-please, what are you-"

"Doesn't this make things more interesting, Aster?" Tori whispered in her ear, kissing her once again.

Aster couldn't move as he pulled her closer to his too warm body. She didn't dare struggle with those claws around her throat. She didn't kiss him back but couldn't bring herself to pull away.

And then Tori deepened the kiss…

And then the kiss wasn't a kiss anymore.

His hand gripped her hard as his tongue forced its way down her throat, the way she arched her back and rose up on her toes not helping her any. She opened her eyes wide, beat her hands feebly on his chest, but his only response was to lift her once again from her feet and slam her hard into the wall behind her. His bulk pressed into her, flattened her to the wall, but any noise she tried to make was choked off by the obstruction that also made it impossible for her to breathe.

It was agony…

Now she was kicking at him, her hands scrabbling at his face and neck, his chest and hands and arm, but he didn't move. It was as if Tori were now carved from stone. Her eyes rolled up into her head, her face began to color oddly, but Tori's only response was to squeeze her throat a little more tightly. Bloody foam worked it's way past her lips and her body began to convulse, but all he did was press her more tightly to the wall…

And he waited.

Several moments passed after she finally fell still… And he waited. He waited until he was sure the last flicker of life had left her, the last bit of breath and the last heartbeat. He waited until he was sure the abomination that had tortured and raped him, killed and maimed so many others was dead.

Covered in her blood, covered in wounds she had inflicted in an attempt to make him stop, Tori drew away at last, letting what was left of Aster drop to the ground, nothing more than an empty shell.

His eyes black, Tori staggered a few steps backwards, leaning against the stairs for a moment before sinking to the floor with his head in his hands.


	9. Then There Were Four

Author's Note!!

To all my loyal watchers… I AM SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SORRY! Words cannot describe how sorry I am to have kept you all waiting in the wings this long. I've had such horrid writers block, you cannot even IMAGINE. I thought I was going to DIE. It was awful, I had a million ideas but there was like this… wall in front of them keeping me from putting them down on the computer or on paper even.

Here is the long overdue chapter nine of How Does it Feel? I hope you all enjoy!!

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…

Silence.

Solitude.

It was a long time before he made the decision to move again.

Tori didn't want them to see the mess he had made, didn't want them to see the broken shell and tattered remains of the girl that had tormented all of them in different ways. He got to his feet with some difficulty, not knowing how much time had passed, and he picked up the corpse that had once housed the thing that had caused him so much fear. She seemed so very small and helpless now, and her eyes were still open.

Tori didn't feel like giving her the respect closing her eyes would bring. She didn't really deserve that, did she?

Not this girl. Not Aster.

One step.

Slow and sure.

He made his way across the wooded yard and headed back they way they had come. What few infected he came across, the ones not already dead, didn't even pay him any mind, shuffling aimlessly to and fro. The dead girl in his arms was also of no interest to them… she was no longer warm, no longer breathing.

She hadn't been dead long enough to be stiff, however, and from where he stood, she could have simply been sleeping.

Sleeping with glassy eyes turned skyward.

Sleeping without any semblance of breath.

Tori leaned his head back and shuddered, moving until he found what he had been looking for.

They had passed the burning barrel some time before coming down the hill towards the house. He found himself remembering the time he had seen a small Hunter that had been following him leap straight through the flames, the gas he had on his clothing igniting almost immediately. They had managed to put the flames out with some difficulty, but the little one didn't last much longer after that. Tori supposed, before the crew he ran with now, that little Hunter was the closest thing he had to a friend.

He missed that little Hunter.

Aster's body folded easily as he dumped her unceremoniously into the barrel, and the flames hissed in anger as they tried to work their way up around her. He stayed for a few minutes to make sure she caught fire. Even if she didn't burn to ash, the fire should be enough to erase all traces of him from her. Tori just wished he could do the same thing to himself…

Purge all sight and feeling of her from himself.

That might mean doing drastic things he wasn't ready to do yet. There was too much to be done and experienced and too much left unsaid, and if he were to do anything to harm himself, Ruby would KILL him.

Somehow. She would find a way.

Turning his head back towards the cabin, Tori made a soft noise at the back of his throat. He supposed the time had come for him to go back to them. They would all be wondering, worried… or they might have already summoned a boat or something of that sort and were gone, leaving him all alone.

One way or another, he wouldn't blame them.

Feeling surprisingly light, surprisingly calm despite what had happened, Tori let his feet carry him back to the cabin as if on autopilot, shuffling a little and swaying from side to side like one of the lessers. He didn't even realize he was doing it…

When the cabin came into view, he saw that someone had turned the lights on. They had gone back inside.

"I… want a cigarette." Tori whispered to himself, letting out a soft, demented giggle and bowing his head as he neared the steps. His feet were heavy as he came up them, but the gun that was suddenly pointed out the front door startled him so bad he almost fell back down the steps, letting out a short yell.

Looking down the barrel of the gun, Darren let out a soft breath and shook his head.

"Scared the living shit out of me, Tori." He muttered, the Smoker lifting his hands in apology. "We were beginning to think… you had left. Joey was saying shit, like you ran off with Aster. Needless to say…" Darren glanced over his shoulder. "Ruby's a mess."

"Lemme in." Tori grumbled. "And get Joey out of the room. I'm not stable, I don't think."

"Your eyes are fine." Darren remarked, his eyes searching Tori's face. "Aren't they-"

"I killed Aster, Darren. My eyes are amber. This isn't a good thing. Tell Joey to leave the room before I come in."

Darren didn't ask anymore questions, moving into the room and requesting that they give Ruby and Tori some alone time before ushering the two boys onto the deck outback. Tori moved into the house, seeing his love sitting at the table with tears in her blue eyes, her expression pleading, suspicious, piteous… so many things all at once, it broke his heart all over again.

Ruby stood, her blue eyes fixed on him, but neither of them moved or spoke for some time. Tori kept his eyes away from the spot on the floor that someone had hastily mopped up upon entering. Perhaps one of the boys had done it… he hoped it hadn't been Ruby. That wasn't her mess to clean up. Someone had also situated a chair over the spot, but it didn't make it go away.

Ruby approached him first, and Tori regarded her with half lowered lashes, unable to actually meet her eye. He hoped and prayed she wasn't going to try and kiss him. He didn't think he would be able to do that for awhile, not until the memories had faded a bit.

To his relief, she simply folded her arms around him in a firm hug and buried her face in his chest, letting out a shaking sigh and rubbing her cheek against him. He put one hand on the back of her head and ran his claws through her hair, rather curly from their foray in the lake earlier, soft and sweetly scented. He shivered lightly, putting his other hand on her arm before looping his arm around her waist and pulling her a little bit closer.

"They wouldn't tell me what happened." Ruby finally whispered, breaking the terrible silence. "They wouldn't tell me what you did. Was there blood on the floor? Is that why Tristan and Darren kept me out?"

"Yeah. Not too much." Tori whispered to her.

"You've got blood on you, Tori."

"I know. Lemme fix that… then I'll come right back." He tried to pull away, but she was firmly attached to him, letting out a soft noise of distress. "Or… you could come too. Come with me. It'll be alright."

"I can help you. I want to help you." She sounded close to sobbing, so Tori hushed her very gently.

It felt strange. He thought it would be her trying to comfort him, not the other way around. Hadn't he just killed someone? Hadn't he just suffocated her and held her in his arms while the life drained from her eyes? Shouldn't he be the one losing his mind?

They went into the bathroom, Tori knocking on the door to the back deck to let Darren and the others know they could come back in before closing the door to the bathroom and slipping his jacket off.

Again, he and Ruby didn't speak, and when her gentle hands, her gentle touch brought a wash cloth to his face to clean the blood away, Tori felt the empty parts of him filling.

He had been feeling so hollow, so without substance, walking along with Aster's body in his arms. He had felt nothing…

Now his heart was beating in time with another living beings. Now he was so close to her, he could breath the same breath as she did. Now he was here, alone, close to the woman he loved.

And suddenly… Aster didn't matter. Her life, her death, his scars and all the horrible things she had done. This was why he had done what he did.

This was why Aster was dead.

Ruby.

All there needed to be was Ruby.

"I love you." He gasped, Ruby's hand pausing halfway to his face, her pretty blue eyes widening. "No matter what happens. I think I've loved you since the first time I saw you. The first time you breathed my name… the first time I saw your pretty eyes." He traced his fingers down her cheek, which was already turning rosy colored. "Everything I have done from that moment has been for you. Even the hardest parts, like leaving you behind that one night when you talked about your family. I didn't want you to get too close, I didn't want to ever have to hurt you with all the hurtful things I'd done. You were so scarred, so scared… I didn't want to ever hurt you more than you already hurt."

"Tori?" Ruby murmured, leaning her head to the side ever so slightly. He made a soft noise and did the same thing. "Shut up. You talk too much."

It felt good to laugh. He didn't mean to, it just escaped him in painful gasps, made him double over, but Ruby was there to support him and to hold him until it was over. Somewhere in the laughter, he had begun to cry… he didn't mean to.

He wasn't sure when it started, but he became aware that Ruby was singing…

"And if you could, you'd climb atop the Eiffel Tower

Now wouldn't you?

You'd stare at the sun, and lay yourself down

Six feet under, now wouldn't you?

Wouldn't you, yeah?"

She continued cleaning his face, and he was silent and still as she worked, her voice mesmerizing. The lyrics were pretty… familiar.

Had he heard them somewhere before?

"And if you could, you'd tie me up

And make me yours, now wouldn't you?

Wouldn't you?

Are you strong enough to love me?

Are you lost in love, or crazy?

Are you strong enough? Strong enough to love me…"

Yes, he did remember this song. He had heard it somewhere before. Somewhere in his old life, before the infection. Perhaps in a bar? One of the many clubs? Someone's house, someone's party?

"And if you could, you'd walk through fire

On tightrope wire, now wouldn't you?

You'd fly up across the sky…

Just to prove your point, now wouldn't you

Yeah, yeah

Wouldn't you?"

She washed a small cut on his lip as she sang to him, the singing seeming to soothe her or help her concentrate. Tori grimaced at her when she handed him a cup of water to rinse his mouth, setting about washing the sweat from his neck, shoulders and chest.

"Are you strong enough to love me?

Are you lost in love or crazy?

Are you wrong enough?

Strong enough to love me?"

Tori caught her hand, drawing her gaze, their eyes meeting and holding. She tilted her head to the side again, and Tori swallowed a few times, opening his mouth to speak. When he turned away, the cup of water in hand, Ruby let out a soft sigh.

In time, he would be ready to talk.

She was ready to wait.

"I need to talk to Joey next." Tori said suddenly from the sink, taking a mouthful of water. Ruby made a soft noise and nodded, rubbing his back gently.

"I'll stay with you. It might make them feel a little better."

"Now that they know what I'm capable of?" Tori gasped after spitting the water in the sink. Ruby ignored how red it was, squeezing his shoulder before moving towards the door. "Ruby?"

"It's alright, Tori. I'm just going to put some tea on. We can all sit down and have a proper discussion about this."

"I don't think I'm-"

"I wasn't talking about Aster, Itoria. I was talking about you. We can sit down and have a proper discussion about you." Ruby flashed him a smile when he glanced in her direction. "Joey wouldn't make such awful comments if he remembered he knew you better than that. He suddenly sees you as a stranger just because you're sick. The others are better… Darren's opinion of you hasn't changed, and even Tristan is starting to get past the infection."

"And what is talking going to achieve?"

"Just be yourself." Ruby shrugged and slipped out of the bathroom, leaving the door open after departing. Tori stared after her for a few seconds, then sighed and rubbed the back of his head again, using more of the water to rinse the blood from his mouth.

Tristan had decided food was in order as well, finding some eggs and a few other things in the fridge that hadn't gone bad just yet and making them what could be considered a feast. Tori shouldn't have been so hungry… but the smell of the food was just too good.

He ate as much as Joey did that night, ate until he felt like he was going to explode, but it was the GOOD kind of stuffed feeling.

The feeling that had been long in coming.

Ruby served them tea, bread and jam after the dinner dishes were cleared away, then sat next to Tori and looked at him in an expectant manner with a reassuring smile. Tori raised an eyebrow at her, then looked around the table and frowned.

"You guys must think I'm really arrogant or something. Either that…or you think I'm rich. That's the only reason people would be waiting so eagerly for a guy to talk about himself." He rasped, Tristan letting out a snicker. Darren blinked a few times and Joey pretended there was something interesting out the window. Ruby just reached over and took Tori's hand in her own, her touch comforting.

"I think it's more a case of no one else knowing how to start a conversation like this one." Darren murmured, shrugging. "So Itoria Levon Henry, tell us more about yourself?"

"Like a sharin' circle. Like they do in primary school." Tristan chimed in, Tori letting out a grunt and nodding.

Tori decided the best way to go about it was to tell them his story, and to tell them all the truth. The whole truth. Nothing but the truth, every awful detail, every girl he left behind wondering if it had been a bad dream. He even told them about Ashley, watched the horror blossom on Tristan's face and the way Joey's expression twisted into something even more ugly than usual.

He told them of how Ruby had come into his life and the things that had changed after that… And he meant every word of it.

Darren obviously believed him, and though he was rather put off about Ashley, Tristan did too. It was only Joey that remained sceptical about him, though the larger young man was smart enough not to open his mouth and make a comment that might potentially get his face taken off by any one of the four others sitting at the table with him.

"Ruby, what did you do? When you first found out?" Tristan asked, turning his head towards the girl. Ruby was still gripping Tori's hand tightly, and she smiled a bit.

"I was so angry and so scared, but none of it mattered. He was infected, yes, but he was THERE. He was there with me, there was no one else anywhere around me. I could have been the last immune in the world for all I knew, and Tori was there with his hand stretched towards me, promising to get me to safety." She looked up at him, pretty blue eyes gleaming. "I believed every word of it."

…

Ruby was sleeping far easier tonight than she had for some time, feeling there was a safer atmosphere here in the house, with the boys laughing and carrying on over the card game they had played before heading to bed. Even Joey had joined in after awhile, managing to win some ammo for his gun with a few good hands.

Tristan had helped her with dishes, insisting that she shouldn't do it herself, and no one asked Tori to lift a finger.

Tori had done more than enough for all of them that day.

The red light she saw through her eyelids, she thought at first was a product of another of her strange dreams. She was rather alarmed when she was startled awake by the first of the oncoming horde, finding Tori beside her sitting up, his amber eyes shining in the darkness.

"What is that?" Ruby asked, shifting to look out one of the windows. "Who's supposed to be on watch?"

"I KNEW he volunteered a little too easily and quickly." Tori growled, standing and reaching down to pick up his pants. Once he was decent, he stomped out into the hall, leaving Ruby to stare out the window in shock and disbelief.

Out in the middle of the lake, on a small boat built for one, for fishing probably, was Joey. Hanging in the sky above him, bathing the whole area with an eerie red glow…

Was a flare.

The flare was the thing attracting the horde, and as the infected were rather opposed to going in the water, the house would be their first destination.

Below her, she heard a door open, but it wasn't Tori's voice that screeched in the darkness before the guns started firing.

It was Tristan.

"You IDIOT!! If this gun could reach you, I'd turn your brains into fish food!! I hope that boat sinks, you good for nothin' motherFUCKER!!"

Joey's return shout was lost in the din of the horde, Ruby's heart thundering as she slipped on her clothing and grabbed her pistol, hurrying down the stairs to help the others.

Darren met her at the door, offering her a gentle pat on the back as they passed one another. He was on his way to the back to assist Tristan, and didn't need to tell Ruby to cover Tori.

She had been travelling with the Smoker long enough to know what to do with him.

"How far away can those things be seen?!" Ruby shouted above the din of the swarm. Tori glanced at her, then let out a rather disgruntled noise and didn't answer. She looked around with wide eyes at the massive amount of infected screaming towards them, knowing now that he didn't need to answer that question.

It was obvious that every single infected within the area around the lake was coming here, to this spot. And when they realized they couldn't get to Joey, they were going to swarm the house.

Just when things had started looking up, too…

…

Before heading out back, Darren moved up the stairs and into the room he and Tristan had been sharing that night, opening the closet and pulling out the hunting rifle he had located when they first searched the house. He made sure the rifle was fire ready, checked the scope and determined he needed to aim a little high. It wasn't the best rifle he had ever used, but it would suit his purposes. He shouldered his other gun, grabbed a box of ammo and moved to join the other man on the back deck.

Tristan didn't look up, furiously firing his shot gun at the coming swarm. He had his lips pulled into a tight line, looking curiously vulnerable in his shirtless state, far too pale under the light of the flare. He used the butt of his gun to smash in the face of a lesser that charged him, refilling his gun and continuing to fire.

Darren set up next to him, using his pistol to take out anything that got too close while he prepped the rifle. There was a section of the deck, a thicker post that he could use as a gun rest…

Tristan spared him a glance, and while his expression darkened when he realized what Darren was up to, he didn't say anything.

He wouldn't dare.

Their world didn't work the same way anymore, and if this is what they both felt was the best course of action, then it was the only course of action. As tempting as it would be to go and drag Joey's sorry ass to shore to let the swarm he had summoned finish the job, as much as Darren didn't feel Joey deserved something so quick and clean…

They couldn't afford the stupid musclehead firing off another flare. As it was, they were probably going to die here.

Darren had never seen so many infected before.

He took in a slow breath and lowered his eye to the scope, holding the gun as steady as he could. Tristan kept the zombies off him for the next few minutes, and Darren trusted him enough that he stopped flinching as the shot flew past him the first few times.

He waited briefly for a clear shot…

He didn't have to wait long at all. Joey even turned his ugly head towards the deck to look at them, his eyes widening in horror when he realized, too late, what Darren was doing.

Darren's finger squeezed the trigger, the shot ringing out too loud even in the noise from the swarm. The tall, pale boy didn't even wait for Joey's body to finish falling into the water before turning back to the horde to help Tristan thin it out. They were going to run out of bullets before the zombies stopped, he was sure of it.

Thoughts like this were just awful, he knew, but he had never been terribly optimistic.

The flare went out seconds later, the dimmer lights of the porch and the house taking over, and curiously enough, most of the zombies stopped dead in their tracks, looking around in confusion.

The ones closest to them still ran forward, screaming and drooling and gnashing their teeth, but without the horrible crush of the rest of them, the battle didn't seem so imposing.

"Let's go back to the others." Tristan remarked, backing towards the house. Darren nodded, leaving the rifle where it lay as he did the same.

It was odd… Darren always thought killing someone sentient would be harder.

He supposed the world really HAD changed.


	10. New Friends and New Beginnings

When Tristan and Darren joined the others, they both stopped and stared with jaws hanging open and eyes wide at the scene that greeted them. Ruby had much the same expression on her face, standing with her pistol cradled to her body and her back pressed up against the wall of the house as she watched.

"He's… like a one man army." She whispered, shaking her head. Tristan could see the tears on her cheeks, gritting his teeth ever so slightly and turning his gaze back towards the Smoker.

Tori was standing without his jacket and his hat, his silky black hair flying around him as he moved amongst what was left of a swarm. Bodies and body parts lay strewn about him, and he was covered, quite literally, in blood and gore. His eyes were black, his expression one twisted in rage, and he let out a cry as he swung his axe out to sever one of the infected's heads. The severed head bounced along the ground as the body it belonged to fell lifelessly, and two other bodies soon joined it on the pile.

They kept coming… The infected kept rushing, kept swarming, and Tori kept killing them, seeming to have no end to his energy.

He wasn't coughing, he wasn't pausing, he didn't seem to register what was going on around him. All that he had shut away after Aster's death seemed to be catching up with him.

"… we have to stop him." Darren said, stepping forward, but he didn't get far before Tristan grabbed his arm and dragged him back, furiously shaking his head.

"You go in there now, man, and he'll kill you." The southern boy drawled. "Lookit him… he's lost it."

Tori picked up one of the infected and used it like a club to beat another one nearby to death, then swung the one he was holding in a short arc that ploughed several others under. Finally casting the now deceased infected aside, the Smoker let out another cry, his tongue shooting out to grab hold of a fallen log nearby. He whipped it towards himself, releasing it at the last second and ducking beneath it as it knocked most of the group in front of him over before passing harmlessly over the Smoker himself and coming to rest with a crash nearby.

Tori straightened up again, plunging his claws through the face of a rushing infected and tossing it aside with a hiss. Another came up right away, Tori leaping at it and driving it to the ground with his greater weight. He crushed the infected's throat with one heavy boot, finally pausing to look around as the wave stopped.

He turned his black eyes to the others on the porch, Tristan shifting his grip on his shotgun as Darren wet his lips and Ruby stared at the Smoker in a pleading fashion. When Tori flashed them all a grin, they breathed collective sighs of relief.

"Is that it?" He rasped.

"More out back, big fella." Tristan jerked his thumb.

"Joey?"

"Dead." Darren confirmed, Tori raising a sculpted eyebrow briefly before grunting and moving up the steps past them. His eyes were still black, but he seemed to be in good spirits… something told Tristan this wasn't a good thing.

It continued for longer than Tristan dared to venture a guess, and by the time Tori was done with the infected, the place looked like a warzone.

"Stay here." Ruby cautioned the others as she moved outside, Darren simply nodding while Tristan chose to wait near the door and listen to the two of them to make sure Tori didn't try to kill Ruby too. The Smoker, while being much the same as he was before they found out he was infected, was still a Smoker, and therefore unpredictable. The infection did terrible, terrible things to people, and if Tori lost control, it wouldn't matter who they were.

To him, they would simply be in the way.

…

"Someone will have seen it." Tori's words startled Ruby. She hadn't said anything to him as she approached, her footsteps soft, but she had to keep in mind that he was infected and his senses weren't the same anymore. "Someone will have seen the flare. They'll send a boat, a vehicle to investigate."

"Is that a bad thing? Maybe it means getting to safety?" She said with a smile, careful not to touch him as she circled round to face him. "Wouldn't it be nice not to have to keep looking over our shoulders-"

"I can't come with you if that's the case." Tori's eyes were still black when he turned them to her. "Changes are too noticeable. I wouldn't want to endanger you."

Ruby frowned, shaking her head. "Tori, don't say things like-"

"Even if they don't care I'm infected, they'll care about what I've done. They'll care about who I've killed."

"TORI!" Ruby snapped, seizing his shoulders and shaking him. "Stop your bullshit! We're not going to just leave you behind, alright? Not now, not EVER! And stop dwelling on the things you've done, you did those things to survive in this world gone mad!!"

Tori's hand reached out, fingers snaking around her neck briefly before drawing up and over her jaw, his head tilting to the side. Ruby fell quiet, swallowing a few times, her eyes still searching his face, brows still knit.

"You're so sure." He hissed, lifting his chin and dragging his clawed thumb over her bottom lip. "Aren't you?"

"Stop it." Ruby's voice was wavering as she spoke. "Don't do this, Itoria. I can't keep running to your rescue when you get yourself into this situation."

"Then maybe you don't love me like you say you do." Tori offered her a sharp toothed grin, Ruby's eyes widening at his words. She balled her hands into fists, nostrils flaring and blue eyes welling up with tears, Tori seeming to be able to sense this shift through the madness that gripped him. "It would probably be unwise to-"

The sound of the slap was probably so much louder than Tori expected because of the blood on his face, and it stung much more than he thought it would. Maybe it had something to do with how incredibly angry he had just made the love of his life.

The fog of rage began to clear from his head, a gasping breath escaping him as he slowly turned his head back to face her, her expression murderous.

"If you ever say something like that again," Ruby began, hissing through her teeth, "I'm going to leave you, Itoria Levon Henry. Now get your skinny ass inside and get cleaned up and STOP THIS NONSENSE. We will deal with the subject of leaving when we are actually able to leave."

When she stalked away, Tori took a moment to gather his wits about him, raising his hand to his stinging cheek slowly and touching his claws to it. He had crossed a line he never meant to… he had said something he never should have said and he did something he promised he would never do.

His words had hurt Ruby when he promised to never hurt her.

Tori felt as if that little slap wasn't enough to punish him for such a thing.

…

Tori was drying his hair after his shower when the door to the room he and Ruby were sharing edged open, the girl coming into the room, pointedly not looking at him as she turned to close the door again. The Smoker chose not to speak, coughing a little as he sat down on the edge of the bed and tossed his towel over the back of a chair, a sigh escaping his throat.

Of course she was still mad at him. He didn't blame her in the slightest.

"The boys are going to stay up and keep watch. They can't sleep anyway." Ruby's voice broke the silence between them, Tori looking up at her and meeting her pretty blue eyes.

Yes, she was still mad. Those blue eyes were blazing, the look on her face so fierce he thought he might catch fire if he looked at her too long.

Rubbing the back of his head, Tori exhaled slowly again, turning his eyes away, half closing them. Ruby approached the bed, a whisper of fabric following the nightgown she wore as she slipped the straps from her shoulders and let it fall to the floor. The sound drew Tori's wide eyed gaze, but as he opened his mouth to speak, she put one finger to his lips, the fingers of her other hand resting on his bare chest gently as she knelt with her knees on either side of his hips on the bed.

Ruby continued to gaze at him with those fierce eyes, Tori now terrified to look away, unsure of just what was happening and what she was trying to tell him.

"The world be damned, Itoria." Ruby whispered, brushing her lips against his and pressing her body close. Tori's heart began thundering, her skin against his making an explosion of feeling rip through his body. "You belong with me no matter what any of them say, no matter what any of them think. They can't judge you for killing people like us when we commit mass murder of people like you every day. What right do they have?"

She traced her fingers over his neck, his shoulders, his chest, nails dragging over his stomach as he drew in a shaky breath and leaned his head back.

"If you still feel the need to stay when we go… let me show you what will be waiting when we see each other again."

It lasted far into the night, with Tori letting Ruby do all the work, letting her show him what she needed to and do what she wanted with him. Tangled together, basking in the afterglow, Tori let his amber eyes close as he rested his forehead against hers. Ruby's breath took some time to calm down, hot against his skin, her trembling fingers resting on his chest and her shaking legs entwined with his.

"Sometimes…" She breathed, Tori opening his eyes to gaze down at her. Her pretty blue eyes were open, and warm tears dripped onto his skin. "You make me hate you, Tori. Sometimes, I wonder if it's all really worth the fuss, worth the work, worth the hell you put me through. But… I love you so much, it hurts to think of ever being parted from you."

"It would never be forever." Tori rasped, stroking her damp hair with his claws. "It would only be until we could find a place of our own. Until this whole mess ends and we can go back to living our lives without someone trying to shoot me everytime I walked down the street."

"Will that time ever come? Do you think they'll find a cure for this?"

Tori thought about it for a moment, remaining very quiet. He wasn't quite sure what to say about that…

He knew if they found a cure, he'd go back to the way he was. There would be nothing to drive him, no boldness to make him do the things he did now. There would just be him and the dark side he hid from the world.

He wasn't sure he ever wanted to go back to that.

But going back to that life might mean things would be much easier for Ruby, and he didn't ever want to hurt her again. If him being infected hurt her… if they found a cure, he'd take it in a heartbeat.

For her. For Ruby. For his world.

"They have to." He whispered, his answer seeming to be good enough. Ruby let out a final, heavy sigh, her breath falling soft and even as she fell asleep in his arms. For a long while, Itoria held her and stared out at the darkness, his luminescent eyes casting a strange glow over her already glowing skin. "They have to." He whispered again, closing his eyes to let sleep claim him as well.

The rest of the night went on, uninterrupted.

…

Several days passed without further incident, leaving the survivors to enjoy their time at the house in relative peace. Three days after Joey's death, Tori and Ruby decided to take a walk in the woods, the girl moving off a bit to pick some late blooming wild flowers while Tori climbed a tree, resting with his back against the trunk and humming to himself with his eyes closed.

A few minutes after settling, his nose twitched and he opened his amber eyes slowly, not moving from his spot or looking around.

A Hunter was close…

"Ruby?" He called softly, finally sitting up and glancing around. Her voice, singing something softly, had moved away from him, and though she was more than capable of defending herself, if the Hunter pounced her, she'd be incapacitated.

Getting to his feet, the Smoker remained very still for a moment, hoping to catch a glimpse of the infected, to get a good idea of just where it was headed and what it was doing. He was rewarded for his patience moments later, but wasn't quite prepared for what he saw…

Instead of the hooded, bloody, feral infected that usually accompanied the smell of Hunters, a small figure hurtled into the clearing just past the tree where he stood, launching itself into the grass and rolling about with a rather cheerful snuffling sound. He was wearing army fatigues, his dark hair having grown rather long and shaggy and his silver grey eyes gleaming in excitement.

Getting onto all fours, he stalked around the clearing, sniffing at plants and logs and rocks and just about anything that came into his view, then found a large patch of clover and began to roll about in it, Tori watching with amusement and amazement.

He had never seen a Hunter act like this before… and he had never seen one dressed like this either.

Pulling himself out of the clover, the Hunter got to his feet and shook himself vigorously, Ruby choosing that moment to come back into the clearing.

She stopped short, pretty blue eyes wide and the smile that was on her face falling quickly, the wild flowers in her hand almost falling before she caught her grip on them.

For a long moment, neither Ruby nor the Hunter moved, then the infected sniffed in her direction and offered her a smile, bounding over to her.

He dropped onto all fours on the ground again, in what appeared to be a submissive position, Ruby looking up towards Tori with an expression of confusion. The Smoker shrugged, and Ruby let out a breathless little laugh before offering her hand to the Hunter, who was more interested in the flowers than he was in her.

The Hunter licked Ruby's hand, then put both hands around the flowers she had gathered as though he meant to take them, a female voice calling out across the clearing to stop him.

"Ishmael! Those aren't yours!"

Dropping to all fours again, the Hunter hurried to the woman's side, Ruby relaxing a bit more at her appearance.

"I'm really sorry, he didn't hurt you, did he?" The other girl asked, Ruby shaking her head. Tori remained up in his tree for a long moment, watching the two girls talk and the Hunter prowl about the clearing. "We saw a flare a couple days ago, followed what road was available in this direction. We had to ditch out truck, and we've been walking for awhile. Are you staying near here?"

"Y-yeah. Me and my friends. I'm Ruby." Ruby held her hand out, her eyes lingering on the Hunter as she spoke.

"Zoey. And this is Ishmael."

"Pleased to meet you both." Ruby breathed, looking as though she might cry, her smile so radiant it put the sun to shame. Tori smiled with her, dropping down from the tree a little more ungracefully than he would have liked and drawing both of their gazes. Ishmael charged towards him, tackling him into the dirt…

Tori wished he could have said he was expecting it, but he wasn't, and the squawk that escaped him led to an inescapable coughing fit that made the Hunter recoil.

"Ishmael!!" Zoey protested, dragging the Hunter off of Tori, who spluttered indignantly as Ruby attempted to pull him to his feet. "God, I'm so sorry. He gets excited sometimes."

"I think it's because Tori's infected." Ruby admitted, the Smoker brushing himself off with a grunt and meeting Zoey's surprised gaze.

"Itoria Levon Henry." The Smoker exclaimed, bowing deeply. "A pleasure to meet you."

Zoey stared at him for a moment longer before taking his hand to shake it, blushing furiously when he bent over her hand and pressed his lips to the back of it.

"Uh…" She murmured, Ruby giggling softly. "Guess it's fair… Ishmael probably licked you, didn't he?"

"Yeah. I've never been licked in greeting by a person before." Ruby giggled a little harder and Zoey shook her head.

"It's a strange habit he's developed lately."

"Hey, we should head back to the house." Ruby looked at Tori as she spoke. "The others we're with are waiting there and should have dinner ready soon… I told them it was their turn to cook, after all. I'm sure they'd enjoy the company. You two travelling by yourselves?"

"No, I've got a party with me." Zoey looked over her shoulder, frowning. "They should be coming this way soon. We have a couple injured in our party and one very reluctant hostage."

"More than enough room in the house, though sleeping arrangements will get interesting." Tori rasped, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. If these people Zoey were with were travelling with a Hunter, he wouldn't have to worry too much about first impressions.

"You speak… WAY better than Ish does. I'm curious about that." Zoey admitted, looking from the Hunter before turning her eyes to Tori. They were a lighter shade of blue than Ruby's and not as pretty, but Zoey looked like she would clean up well one way or another.

"Tori's an interesting exception to the infected." Ruby said softly. "We'll talk more back at the house. It's not far, just through these trees here."

By the time they returned to the house, Ruby had told Zoey the reason behind the flare, but instead of being met with quiet disbelief as she had expected with the news of Joey's betrayal and subsequent death, she was met with a nod of understanding, Zoey assuring her she knew exactly how they must have felt.

It seemed these survivors had a story of their own to tell.

The rest of Zoey's party found their house a little while later, Tristan finding a fast friend in a middle aged biker named Francis, the two of them sitting on the porch together to talk cars and drink the beer that Tristan had found in the pantry.

A retired former Green Beret named Bill was assisting a willowy older woman Ishmael informed Tori was named 'Shan' in carrying a young black man named Louis, who appeared to be suffering from a gunshot wound while a young soldier named Luke aided the last member of the party, Selene, in walking up the steps.

Selene greeted them in a tired sounding but rather lovely accented voice, retiring to the living room and resting in a chair while Ruby and Zoey sorted out sleeping arrangements.

Darren hung back in the background looking a little shy, soon joined by Ishmael, who appeared uncomfortable around this many people.

"The more the merrier, even if things ARE a little more crowded." Ruby told 'Shan,' the older woman letting out a laugh.

"Tell me you have coffee. I think I'm going through withdrawl." Bill groaned, taking a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and moving to the porch.

"Give me one of those and I'll take you to town and get you all the coffee you can drink." Tori rasped, following him outside with an eager expression.

"Got yourself a deal, son." Bill chuckled amiably.

…

…

…

Author's Note!!

YAY CROSSOVERS!


End file.
